


From the Ashes

by Storm137



Category: Big Hero 6 (2014)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Brotherly Bonds, Coma, F/M, TadaHoney, Tadashi Lives, Tadashi alive Alternative Universe, family bonds, hospital stay, medical procedure mention
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-29
Updated: 2019-03-29
Packaged: 2019-12-26 11:33:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 24,899
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18281759
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Storm137/pseuds/Storm137
Summary: He had seen too much. It was over the second he saw what was going on in the showcase building and his fate was sealed... Everyone believed the ashes recovered were all that was left of a certain robotics student... But what if that wasn't the case? There's an answer... But even the answer themselves may not be ready for what's to come.





	1. Chapter 1

 

 

Chapter 1: Seen Too Much

There were flames surrounding him. He could barely breathe as he called out.

"Professor!? Professor Callaghan!?"

He thought he saw a glint of black metal coiling around one of the beams.

That was illogical. There was only one thing at this showcase building made of that type… And they would've burned first likely.

_Gotta keep looking._

"Professor?!"

He coughed as he pressed onward, he gasped as he spotted something he didn't imagine.

He could see an orb of microbots starting to form around someone… Around Professor Callaghan.

"W-What are you doing!?"

The professor didn't even turn to face him.

Tadashi heard a SNAP as his gaze went upwards. It shifted as he cried out, rubble covering him. The snake of microbots that had caused them to fall went over to Callaghan.

"W-Why!?"

Tadashi didn't get a response.

All he remembered after that was an explosion then…

"TADASHI!"

_Hiro…_

"TADASHI!"

_I'm…_

" **TADASHI!"**


	2. Chapter 2: Coma

Chapter 2: Coma

It was a quiet morning at Kiseki Medical. One of the hospitals located in San Fransokyo. The staff were having a slow day.

Some had better luck than others as the doctors and nurses did their rounds.

"GOOOD MORNING SUNSHINE!"

And for one nurse, it was the typical morning as she went into the patient's room and opened his curtains for him. "It's such a beautiful day today isn't it?"

The reason she was being so loud was because her patient was out cold. He had been in a coma for over six months now and they still kept looking after him regardless. At this point, they were treating him under the radar as far as any official documents knew the room was under construction. It wasn't normal protocol but sometimes these things had to be done.

Tristan Dean sighed as she performed her usual tests and checks on him.

"You are one lucky guy, you know that?" She asked the young man after changing out his IV. "You get a nice room, a great view of the bay. Don'tcha just wanna open your eyes and look right out?"

"You're creeping me out, Dean." A doctor said as he looked in, leaning in the door with an amused smirk.

Tristan scoffed, giving him a dirty look. "No one asked for your help, Dr. Marks! John and I were having a fantastic conversation without you!" She smirked.

"Oh yeah, he's really talking your ear off." Leon Marks chuckled, rolling his eyes. "You know, we don't usually talk to our coma patients, right?"

"Well, he can still hear-"

"Marginally I'm sure after THAT wake up call."

"Hey!"

They laughed before Leon left. She sighed a bit looking to the "John Doe" lying there. He had been brought in severely burned and he hadn't woken up since. He was on IVs to help keep him stable and oxygen to help him breathe. Due to the burns from the fire he was pulled out of he had lost most of his right leg just below the knee. He just never woke up. He had brain activity, plenty of it but it was as if he was trapped in a dream.

"C'mon, honey. We're not givin' up on you until we get caught or until you can get out of here yourself. So give us a hand, okay?" She said gently, holding his hand. It was saddening at times. Here was this young man with no one to claim as "his" family and no one knew him. "We'll get you better. But you have to help us too. Don't give them a reason to unplug you."

She didn't get a response as she left, sighing a bit. What she didn't see was the young man's hand twitch, slowly curling into a fist.

_Help me._

oooooo

" _HELP ME! SOMEONE GET ME OUTTA HERE!" He screamed over and over, coughing as the flames crept closer, licking at his skin as he cried out. He couldn't feel his right leg anymore. Everything else ached or burned._

_He struggled to breathe as it kept coming closer._

" _Please…" He begged. "I need help…. Please."_

_He could see Callaghan leaving, the microbots carrying him away. He was left all alone now in the ruined building._

_What started off as a night of new hope now was a horrid nightmare._

_He was going to die._

_He was going to die here and leave everyone behind._

" _Hiro…"_

_He felt something cool take his hand. Like a ghostly hold and he wondered briefly if this was what dying was like. Cold starting to take over his limbs._

"C'mon, honey. We're not givin' up on you until we get caught or until you can get out of here yourself. So give us a hand, okay?"

" _Help me."_

"We'll get you better. But you have to help us too. Don't give them a reason to unplug you."

" _Unplug me…?"_

_He heard a sigh as the grip faded away. The young man reached around, trying to find it again._

" _HELP ME!"_

_He clenched his fist as he lowered his head, crying out._

" _PLEASE, HELP ME!"_


	3. Chapter 3: Enter the Brother

Chapter 3: Enter the Brother

_He lost sight of him as he disappeared into the flames._

_**No, no, no!** _

_He started to run in after him when the explosion threw him back._

_He was dazed as he hit the ground before looking up in horror to see the building completely engulfed._

" _Tadashi…?"_

_He stood up, shakily moving towards it. "TADASHI!"_

" _Hiro…"_

" _TADASHI!"_

" _Hiro…"_

" _SOMEONE GET HIM OUT OF THERE!_ _ **TADASHI!"**_

He awoke with a gasp as he shot up, holding his chest, trying to catch his breath. He felt like all of the air had been sucked out of him.

"Hiro?"

The teenager looked up warily to see Baymax standing beside him. He didn't notice him activate and felt like an idiot for a moment. If it had been the battlefield and he didn't hear an enemy coming… He swallowed hard and lowered his head. "Are you alright?"

"I don't know. Just a nightmare I think." Hiro said as he finally stopped breathing hard, flopping back against his bed.

"Do you wish to talk about it?" The robot inquired as he ran his hand through Hiro's hair, smoothing it out a little against the pillow.

Hiro nodded as he brought the blanket close to him. "I… It was…" He closed his eyes tightly as the images and sounds flashed back into his mind. "Tadashi I never… I never even got to say goodbye."

"Shhh…" Baymax lifted Hiro up carefully, bringing him close, ensuring the boy's blanket was still wrapped around him. "I know it's been hard for you."

"I just miss him so much it hurts." Hiro whispered, curling up, sighing heavily. "If it was real pain it'd be a 60."

"That is indeed critical." Baymax rocked Hiro gently, turning on his heater to keep the boy comfortable.

Hiro's head bobbed a bit as he huddled closer. "Good thing I got you."

"I will always take care of you."

" _I'll never give up on you."_

 _Oh Tadashi._ Hiro thought as he started to drift off, a tear slipping out.  _I wish you were here._

oooooo

When Hiro awoke next he was tucked back into bed, a furry warm lump huddled against his back. "Mochi..." He groaned as he rubbed his eyes. "What do ya want?"

Mochi climbed over the boy's side and gave him a look.

"... I refuse to spoil you." He deadpanned as he gave one right back.

"Meow."

"Shut up."

"Hiro, it is not polite to be mean to Mochi."

"Not you too Baymax." Hiro sighed, turning over only to have Mochi lay right on his face. "See this?" He said, although it was muffled by seven pounds of cat. "He's trying to kill me!"

Baymax made a sound that mimicked a sigh as he picked Mochi up, petting him. "Naughty baby."

Hiro sat up, rubbing his face free of cat hair. He looked at the cat shaking his head. "You and that cat..."

"He is a nice cat."

"He's evil." He mumbled as he got up stretching. He took a glance at the calendar and silently cheered that he was off the hook for class currently. A long weekend awaited him.

"Are you not feeling better this morning?"

"Eh-Oh no, I'm fine, I'm fine." Hiro said quickly, waving the robot off with a sheepish look. "You know me, I'm not a morning person."

"Very well. But Hiro, you know you can always talk to me."

"I know and thanks for last night." The boy smiled tiredly before the two went downstairs.

"Well, look who rolled outta bed!" Cass greeted the two, giving Hiro a quick kiss on the head that he dramatically tried to rub off.

"Auuugh! You got lipstick in my hair!"

"You know you love me anyway." She teased her nephew a little ruffling his hair.

Hiro smiled, shaking his head as he sat at the table, eying the coffee pot across the room.

"Don't even think about it." Both Cass and Baymax told the boy as he groaned, laying his head down.

"Stereo!"

"Mew." Mochi rubbed against Hiro's ankle, trying to climb up onto his lap. Hiro whined a little, moving him down.

"No, no, no. Not after what you did, Mister." He warned, flicking a small roll across the room as the cat scampered for it.

"What'd he do?" Cass asked as she set a plate of pancakes and eggs in front of Hiro. She moved to grab something else as Hiro started eating.

"He tried to kill me." Hiro said bluntly as he ate.

"Mochi does not know what "smothering" is." Baymax cut in.

"Oh, he does. He tried to kill me!" Hiro insisted.

Cass giggled before her look sobered as she set a small plate of food on the altar in the living room, her eldest nephew's face looking out. "Hope it's good." She whispered before joining her youngest at the table. "I warned you when Tadashi brought him home that-"

"We won't own the cat, the cat owns us." They both said in unison before laughing.

"That is incorrect. Traditionally, a feline is-"

Baymax was cut off as Mochi cuddled up to him, purring. The nurse bot picked up the cat, petting him as Mochi curled up.

"He owns you." Both Hamadas smirked as Baymax had what could only be described as a chill down his carbon fiber spine.

He could now see where Hiro got his devious smile from. He took after his mother's side definitely.

He deflated a bit. "... He owns us." He concluded.

oooooo

He was faintly aware he was being moved somewhere.

"We really need an MRI bot or something." He heard someone grumble. "For someone who's been out for so long he's heavy!"

"Oh quit your whining Dean. You're the one who yells at him every morning about how "great" the morning is."

"Well it usually is."

_Where am I…?_

The voice of "Dean" he identified was female and sounded rather high pitched at times as she bantered with the second voice a man of the name "Leon". All he knew for sure, it was driving him crazy but he couldn't protest against it.

"Should we give him a dose of sedative after this?"

"Yeah. The kid's in for it if these exam results aren't as what we hope."

_What are they doing to me…?_

He faded before long.

oooooo

_The building was still burning but it wasn't falling anymore. He was fully aware of that now. He could tell this was something he had some control over. He was still pinned but it was better than fearing for the worst when he was able to tune most of it out._

_He still remembered the warning._

_Give them a reason to not unplug him._

_He didn't know what that exactly meant but it proved one thing. He had to find a way around this problem._

_Find a way out, he could find a way home._

_The young man focused on trying to get the rubble to move off of him. He managed to get it off and gulped at what he saw._

_His right leg had a ghostly limb made of energy following him from below the knee down, forming the rest of his pant leg and his shoe. He shook it off and stood up shakily, growling as the flames came closer._

" _Be very afraid." He hissed, coughing as he started trekking forward. "I'm getting outta here, Callaghan!"_

_**Hang on Otouto. Your nii-san did something stupid but I'm coming.** _

_**Just wait.** _


	4. Chapter 4: Going Down

 

Chapter 4: Going Down

The streets of San Fransokyo were active in the night, even after most people would go inside their homes to sleep.

For a certain superhero team, night meant it was time to hit the streets not as themselves but as the heroes they set out to be.

Hiro cheered as he hung onto Baymax's armor, ducking a little to avoid getting hit in the head with a paper lantern. "WHOO-HOO!"

Honey Lemon laughed as she jumped from a pile of blue ice, hitting the ground running.

Gogo swerved around her, gaining speed as Wasabi and Fred brought up the rear.

Despite the people about and the activity, it could still be considered quiet as they hadn't had any trouble yet.

"It's quiet… Too quiet." Hiro remarked.

"Hiro!"

"Dude, you just said the forbidden words!"

Hiro grimaced at the protests over his headset. "Yeah, love you guys too." He muttered.

His headset started to go off as did in all of the team's as an alert was picked up.

"THIS IS AN AMBER ALERT. KUMIKO HAZAMA, AGE 6, TAKEN FROM HOME BY HER FATHER, KNOWN FELON KISHIMOTO HAZAMA. PROCEED WITH CAUTION. HIGHLY DANGEROUS. LAST SEEN IN RED SUV."

The team all felt anger spark inside them. She was just a little girl.

"Well Hiro, what's the choice?" Gogo asked as she sped up to keep up.

Hiro had Baymax start to scan the city. Due to previous scans of everyone in the city, thanks to the advanced scanner, he hoped they had picked up Kumiko or Kishimoto at some point. "We go after her."

Baymax soon picked up a signature matching Kumiko. "She is on the bridge. Her neurotransmitters are spiking. She is experiencing fear and heart palpitations from adrenaline." Baymax reported as the team made their way to the San Fransokyo Crimson Gate bridge.

_Hang on kid._

oooooo

Kumiko sniffled as she looked up at her father, tears running down her face. The last thing she had remembered was her father grabbing her out of the yard and hearing her mother screaming. Now, she was awake again and high up off the ground. She had seen the entire city when she had come to but now she was scared.

Her mother warned her that her father wasn't nice. The six year old whimpered as he knelt in front of her, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Now Kumiko, don't you miss being with your daddy?" Kishimoto asked softly, giving her a smile. Kumiko shook her head quickly.

"N-No! You're not Daddy! Stephen is my daddy!" She wailed, wishing she could go home to her mother and step father.

SLAP!

Kumiko went quiet, eyes wide as her father growled, getting in her face.

"That fool knows NOTHING about you! He is not your father and you are not his daughter. DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME KUMIKO!?"

Kumiko shook, keeping silent, wishing someone would stop him.

She looked around. They were on one of the platforms of the bridge overlooking the bay. She used to wish she could go up there and see it all but now she regretted it.

"I SAID DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME!?"

"N-NO!" She shrieked. "I WANT MY MOMMY!" She sobbed, lowering her head.

Kishimoto went quiet before picking her up, holding her close, even as she struggled to get away.

"Put me down!"

"Oh, Kumiko-chan. You have no idea how much I missed you."

"You're crazy!" She yelled, trying to get away. "YOU'RE NOT DADDY! I WANT MY REAL DADDY!"

"Kumiko, Kumiko, Kumiko. I am Daddy." He went over to the edge of the ledge, looking down, sneering.

_That stupid wench thinks she can best me. Taking everything I owned in the divorce and of course, no right to see my daughter all because of a few bot fights and of course, fools who got in my way._

_She'll learn what it's like to lose everything._ He never wanted her back. He just wanted to hurt his ex and taking away the girl who meant everything to her seemed to make sense.

Kumiko struggled, whimpering when she was brought closer to the edge. "K-Kishimoto-san." She pleaded. "Put me down."

"Oh, I will."

He held her out at arms length, giving her what would've been a soft smile if not for the dark look in his eyes. "I hope you have fun in heaven."

Kumiko screamed as she was dropped, the water rushing up at her…. but she never hit it.

Instead, she felt herself land in someone's arms as they held her close. She looked up to see a boy in purple and black armor glaring up at Kishimoto as the robot he was on flew upwards.

She recognized him from the newspapers.

"Purple Hero!"

Hiro Hamada gave a nod, trying not to cringe at the title. "Yeah. Don't worry kiddo, I gotcha." He shifted her, holding her tightly as his robot landed on the ground. He jumped down, handing Kumiko over to a girl in all pink. "Here, take her! We'll get Kishimoto!" Hiro called to Honey Lemon as she cradled Kumiko to her.

The little girl sobbed, clinging to her. "Arigatou, Arigatou, Arigatou."

"It's okay. You're okay."

Hiro and Baymax turned their attention to the man on the ledge as he started quickly climbing down. "Baymax, grab him."

Baymax dove down at full speed, arms outstretched as Kishimoto ducked, trying to dodge it.

"YOU IDIOTS!" He screamed as he tried to avoid the two heroes.

He was slammed into one of the posts of the bridge by a young woman in yellow armor. Gogo growled, eyes flashing in rage.

"You just tried to murder your daughter. We're not the idiots here." She snarled as Wasabi came up, producing a set of handcuffs.

Kishimoto glared as he was handcuffed, struggling a bit. "That woman took everything!"

"And how's that the girl's fault?" Wasabi asked him as he marched the man to the end of the bridge as sirens were heard.

The man didn't have a response. He just hung his head.

Hiro sighed, shaking his head, looking over to where Baymax had joined Honey Lemon. Kumiko was in the robot's arms, sobbing into his armor, the nursebot doing his best to comfort the child.

"How is she?"

"She has a mild abrasion on her cheek. A spray has already been applied." Baymax reported, rocking the girl gently.

Honey Lemon frowned, talking to Hiro quietly. "She told me he had struck her before he dropped her off the bridge. Slapped her pretty hard."

Hiro growled a bit. "What a low life. Well. he's going away for a long time."

"Good. Poor thing just wants her mother."

"Well, let's make sure she gets to her then."

The three joined the rest of the team who had handed Kishimoto over to the police. A woman with long black hair stepped out of one of the cars, looking frantic.

"Kumiko!?"

Kumiko reached out for her. "MOMMY!"

Baymax set her down as she ran into her mother's arms, the woman scooping her up into an embrace. "Oh my baby."

"Mommy, Mommy! The Big Hero 6 saved me!" She pointed to the heroes with a bit of an excited look. "The purple and red ones caught me and we flew!"

"Thank goodness." She sighed in relief looking to the six. "Thank you. Thank you so much."

"It was our pleasure. Take care of her." Hiro said, giving a small grin. "She's a good girl."

Kumiko beamed, curling up in her mother's arms. "Bye, bye."

Her mother carried the girl off as the team started to head off.

"YOU!"

Hiro rolled his eyes, hearing Kishimoto yelling.  _Can't do much in cuffs._  He thought, keeping his back to him.

"Hiro?" Gogo murmured.

"Ignore him."

It had happened as he was being placed into the car. The man had managed to wrestle one of his hands free and knocked his elbow into the officer's chest, taking his firearm.

He took aim at Hiro's back, the boy didn't see it coming.

BANG!

Hiro cried out as it went through one of the weak points on his armor, hitting him in the right side.

"HIRO!"

He fell forward, Baymax catching his young charge. Hiro shuddered, closing his eyes tightly.

"AUGH!"

"Get him to the hospital, Kishimoto is ours." Gogo growled, charging at the man, the team taking her lead.

Honey Lemon glanced back in worry as Baymax took off for the nearest hospital with Hiro in his arms.

oooooo

Hiro looked up at Baymax, feeling a chill go through him. The nursebot kept trying to keep his attention to keep him from falling asleep.

"Hiro, keep your eyes open. Talk to me."

"Hurts." He whimpered.

"On a scale of one to ten, how would you rate your pain?"

"Twenty." Hiro groaned, closing his eyes, despite Baymax's persistence.

Baymax scanned the boy, finding he had fallen unconscious. "Hiro!" He tried to rouse him as he landed, contacting the hospital's front desk for assistance as he brought the teen inside.

"Hiro!"

He felt himself falling. He swore he had heard someone call out for him.

" _HIRO!"_

_Tadashi…?_

_I-I'm scared… I don't wanna-_


	5. Chapter 5: Nii-San

 

 

Chapter 5: Nii-san

The first thing he registered was how sore he felt. The next was where he was laying. Instead of pressed up against the cold metal of Baymax's armor, he was laying on a bed somewhere.

Hiro winced as he opened his eyes, turning away from the light. "Ngh….?"

"Hiro?"

The teen looked up to see Baymax at his side, out of his armor. "Hey big guy." He whispered tiredly. He tried to sit up, only to have the nursebot's hand gently push him back down.

"Do not try to move. You have been through a lot." Baymax said, scanning the boy once more, satisfied to find his vitals still stable. "You will be alright."

"What'd they do to me?" Hiro asked, yawning a little, feeling groggy along with how sore he was. He glanced to his right arm, finding an IV in the center of it, leading up to a bag of blood. He cringed a bit, wishing he hadn't turned his back.

"You underwent emergency surgery to remove the bullet and to repair the damage. You were very lucky Hiro. You went into cardiac arrest twice." Baymax laid a hand on the boy's head, the teen leaning into the touch. "Please be more careful. You scared us."

Hiro frowned a little, giving a small nod. "Yeah. I'm sorry."

"It is alright." Baymax assured him. The teen sighed in relief.

"So, how long am I gonna be stuck in here? And which hospital are we at anyway?" He asked, looking around. It looked like your run of the mill hospital room with a curtain dividing the room, hiding whoever else was in there. He heard two sets of monitors going, his own and a second person's.

"We are at Kiseki Medical Center, in downtown San Fransokyo."

"Got ya." Hiro sat up, ignoring the protests as he cringed. "Ow."

"On a scale of-"

"Two." Hiro mumbled but stayed as he was. "I'll live."

"So the wonder boy awakens!" A new voice said as a nurse with long black hair and brown eyes came into view. "How do you feel?" She asked, perhaps a bit too loudly as Hiro cringed from the volume.

"Groggy, sore and I wanna take a weed whacker to the guy who shot me." He said, running a hand through his hair.

"Trust me, we all want to do that one."

"Violence is not recommended."

The nurse giggled a bit. "No, but one of our EMT's would disagree with you on that. She's quite the spitfire."

"I see."

Hiro sighed. "So, you're my other nurse?"

"Yep." She held out a hand as Hiro shook it. "Tristan Dean. Nice to meet you."

"Likewise. So, how long am I gonna be in here?"

Tristan looked at her chart. "Well, the doctor who operated on you said if you take it easy and y'know, don't do anything crazy on us, that it'll be a week and a half. Maybe two weeks."

"Two weeks!?" Hiro laid back, putting his hand to his face. "My aunt's gonna kill me!"

"I'm sure she'll just be happy you're safe. Thank your robot for getting you here as fast as he did." She said, nodding to Baymax. "And thank you for helping out with him."

"It is my pleasure. I am Hiro's personal healthcare companion." Baymax responded as the boy smiled up at him.

"Thanks big guy.…."

"You are welcome."

After Tristan asked Hiro a few more questions, explaining what would need to be done as he healed, Baymax providing her with his latest scan results on the teen. "Alright, that'll do it. I'll just take a look at your roommate and see how he's faring."

"Who am I rooming with?" Hiro asked as she went behind the curtain. "He snore?"

"If he can snore with an oxygen mask on, I'll be seriously impressed." She responded as she looked over the patient's vital signs, recording things down. "He's a John Doe. No one knows actually. He's been here for months now."

"And no one's come for him?" Hiro asked shocked. "How are you guys still…?"

"Under the radar. We do what we can." She sighed, seeing the usual signs. The unconscious man twitched a little as she blinked.  _That's new._

Hiro looked to Baymax and gestured with his head to the other side of the room. "Go give her a hand. Maybe you can help."

Baymax nodded, waddling over to the other side of the curtain.

The young man wasn't visually recognizable. His hair had gotten longer, covering part of his face with his bangs, the part that wasn't covered with the oxygen mask. He was hooked up to various monitors. Baymax began scanning him, going through databases.

While he had lost some weight and there were signs of burn damage and smoke inhalation, there was a match.

"Identification found."

Tristan looked to Baymax, stunned. "You figured that out by just scanning him?"

"Baymax scans everyone Nurse Dean!" Hiro called from his side of the room, wishing he could see what was going on. "Standard procedure."

"I-I see. Well, what's his name?" She asked.

Baymax waddled closer to the man's bedside. "His name is… Tadashi Hamada."

Hiro's eyes widened in alarm as he lept out of bed, minding his IV, throwing the curtain back. "WHAT!?" He screamed, looking at the man in disbelief, his eyes wide.

"Tadashi is here."

Hiro felt tears sting his eyes as he made his way over to the other side of the bed, looking him over. He had lost weight, he looked so pale. Hiro shakily reached out, brushing his hair out of his eyes. He was silent, looking at Tadashi closely. He let out a small sob as he took his hand, squeezing it tightly. "Tadashi." He collapsed in the chair next to the bed, looking up. "You're alive… You're alive." He murmured.

"My goodness." Tristan murmured, feeling bad for the boy as she touched his shoulder gently. "He's your relative?"

"Not just that, ma'am." He looked up, tears rolling down his face as he smiled. He gave Tadashi's hand another squeeze.

"This is my big brother."

oooooo

Hiro had refused to get back in bed at first, protesting when it got later because he wanted to stay near his brother. Baymax managed to coax the boy into going to sleep by keeping the curtain separating the brothers open.

"How's he look?" Hiro asked as he looked over to his sibling.

"His brain activity has spiked again. He's been doing this since you went over to him."

"He can hear me then?"

"I believe so."

"Good." Hiro closed his eyes, feeling the exhaustion creep up. "I missed him so much. When do you think he'll wake up?"

"It is hard to pin down an exact date but with you here I would say soon."

Hiro yawned, making himself comfortable as he laid on his side, facing his sibling. He hoped it was soon. He wanted to talk to him. Tell him everything that's been happening.

"Thanks. Can you watch him for me?"

Baymax stroked Hiro's hair as the teen relaxed more. starting to drift. "Of course, Hiro."

"Thanks. Night."

"Goodnight."

_Hiro?_

Tadashi's brain activity spiked again as his hand twitched, moving a little as he tried to reach for something. Baymax waddled over to him and took his hand gently.

The grip was weak but Tadashi had tried his best to hold on.

_Please…_

_Don't leave me… Baymax… Hiro._

_Not again._


	6. Chapter 6: Awake

Chapter 6: Awake

He was still sore but not from his injury now. He was sore from sleeping in a chair and ignoring any attempts to get him back in bed.

Hiro's head bobbed a little as he tried to stay awake in hopes of his brother waking up while he was still up. "C'mon Nii-san." Hiro murmured, sighing as he looked at Tadashi's face. "You can do it. Keep fighting for us."

He felt his brother's hand twitch into a weak grip. Hiro squeezed back gently. "Yeah, I'm right here."

" _Hiro."_

He could see the end of the building. He could picture his little brother, everything about him.

" _I'm coming, Hiro!"_

Outside the room, Tristan and Leon were having a quiet debate. Or rather, a quiet argument that would escalate to a screaming match if one of them didn't back down.

"You have to tell him!" Leon hissed. "He has a right to know!"

"He just had life saving surgery, found out his brother's in a coma and has to share a room with said comatose brother! Why add onto that crap pile with "By the way his leg is gone"!?" Tristan whisper-yelled.

"Unbelievable." Leon muttered, rubbing his temples. "Look, I'll give them two days. If his brother doesn't wake up between now and then I'm telling the kid and the aunt!"

"Fine!"

The two parted ways as Tristan headed into the brothers' room. She noticed Baymax was missing. "Where's your buddy?"

"I sent him to help out in the pediatric ward. Overheard some doctors trying to calm down a little kid who was freaking out over their meds and I guess the other kids probably haven't given him back yet. He'll be back soon, I hope. Erm… was that alright?" Hiro asked, looking up.

"To be honest, that's not the weirdest thing I've heard of. You should hear the stuff a friend of mine from nursing school gets to go through at her hospital." Tristan said, giving him a reassuring look. "Besides, we could use all the help we can get. How're you feeling?"

"Still sore, but getting better. Tadashi's been twitching a lot more and he's squeezed my hand a lot." Hiro replied and as if on cue, Tadashi's hand twitched as he held Hiro's hand tighter. "See?"

"This is marvelous." Tristan beamed. "I guess he just needed the right motivation. Hopefully he'll open those eyes of his soon." She checked Tadashi's vitals and did the same for Hiro. "Now, Hiro, you got a checkup in a few hours with your doctor. Can you promise me you'll be good for him?" She asked, kneeling to his level.

Hiro resisted the slight urge to roll his eyes and nodded. "Yeah, long as he doesn't bug my brother. Can I ask why we don't have the same doctors?"

"Your doctor was the one on call when you got brought in. Leon was dealing with another patient. Why? Do you not like Dr. Tulba?"

"She's fine-"

Hiro was cut off by Tristan cracking up. He gave her an annoyed look as she sat on Hiro's bed, laughing.

"Did I say something amusing?"

"Sorry, sorry." She wiped away a tear. "Dr. Tulba is a man."

Hiro's eyes went wide. "But-But he… That hair- I thought-"

"Yeah. He's got a pretty face I know. Man I gotta tell Nurse Ross about that." Tristan snickered.

"Got ya. By the way, my aunt's stopping by in a couple of hours herself. She would've closed down the shop instantly but I told her Tadashi would be getting up to man the register even in a coma if she ditched the busiest day of the week." Hiro snickered. "She laughed and agreed so… yeah."

"Alright, got it. Her name?"

"Kazume "Cass" Hamada."

"Got it."

Hiro nodded as they both looked up, seeing Baymax waddle in… and trying to hold in their laughter, Hiro clamping a hand tightly over his mouth.

"Uh… the girls have fun?" Tristan asked as Baymax deflated a bit, sighing. He had "eyelashes" drawn on with marker around his optics and there was make up and little doodles all over him.

"Yes. They refused to be satisfied with their care unless I played "beauty parlor" with them/"

Hiro couldn't take it anymore and threw his head back laughing. "OH MY GOSH!"

"I will get cleaned up now."

Tristan took out her phone, snapping a picture before bidding the three farewell. Hiro snickered, leaning back in his chair. "Hey, Baymax?"

"Yes, Hiro?"

"How's Tadashi's brain activity?"

Baymax looked over to his creator, scanning him. His scans picked up more activity than the day before. "His brain activity is steadily rising."

"Awesome." Hiro grinned a little, looking to his brother. "Hear that? You are doing great!"

_Hiro… I gotta get my eyes to open. C'mon…_

Tadashi's expression changed a bit as he struggled to open his eyes.  _C'mon. Open. Just a little._

Hiro watched in amazement as Tadashi slowly opened, his eyes looking over to him.

"T-Ta-Tadashi….?" Hiro stammered a little.

Tadashi squeezed his hand. "Hey." He said hoarsely.

Hiro teared up. "H-Hey..." He whispered.

Tadashi moved his hand away, bringing it to his brother's face, cupping his cheek. Hiro leaned into the touched as his brother wiped a few tears away. "Hey… It's okay."

"I missed you." Hiro sniffled. "I missed you Nii-san."

Tadashi teared up a bit himself. He missed hearing that. "Missed you too, Otouto."

Hiro placed his hand over his brother's. "I'd hug ya but I don't wanna hurt you."

"Hey, I'm not made of glass." Tadashi took his hand away, pushing himself up.

"H-Hey don't go so fast!" Hiro warned.

"Tadashi, you need your rest."

"I'm fine, I'm fine." The young man insisted before looking to his brother, holding his arms out. "C'mere you."

Hiro climbed up next to his brother, hugging him tightly. He buried his face in his chest, hiding the tears. Tadashi returned the embrace, stroking his sibling's hair. "Shh… Shh…. I'm here."

"I thought you were dead." Hiro murmured. "We thought you were dead!"

Tadashi frowned, tilting his brother's chin up. "Hey, I'm sorry I scared you. How long have I been out for?"

"Six months!" Hiro said, choking up a little. "I didn't know you were here until recently."

Tadashi hugged him tighter, pulling back when Hiro let out a gasp. "A-Are you okay?" It was then he took notice of how his brother was dressed. Hiro was wearing a child's hospital gown and he had a bandage over where his IV had been. "What the heck happened!?"

"I got hurt." Hiro murmured, really not wanting to go into it at that moment. "Some jerk with a gun."

"You'll tell me all about it later. Oh, Hiro." Tadashi murmured, keeping him close, but not as tightly. "Sorry."

"It's okay. Stitches are still tender that's all. I'm okay. Besides, you're the one I should be worrying about." Hiro rolled his eyes a bit. "Still the same dorky brother." He smirked a little.

Tadashi smirked back. "I'm YOUR dork." He looked over to Baymax. "Hey, can you scan Hiro real fast-"

"Nuh uh! You're the one getting scanned!" Hiro protested, moving back a little as the robot waddled over.

"Scan complete. You are both recovering."

"... How-"

"Enhanced scanner. I'll explain later." Hiro sighed, leaning back a little. "I'm… I'm really glad you're awake Tadashi."

Tadashi frowned, brushing some of Hiro's hair out of his face. "You've really been hurting, haven't you?"

The teen nodded, lowering his head. "Baymax's been treating me for the depression and the PTSD… but it still hurts."

Tadashi felt guilty. He never intended for any of this to happen. He regretted ever going into that fire.  _Does he even know about what really happened? … I can't ask him. He's been through enough and on top of that, getting shot? Poor kid._ "C'mere Hiro."

Hiro curled up to him as Tadashi kept him close. "I got you. It's okay. I'm here." He murmured. "I'm so sorry. I am so, so, so sorry."

"It wasn't your fault." Hiro murmured. He himself didn't think Tadashi knew about what Callaghan had done. "It was an accident." He cringed internally saying those words.

Tadashi shook his head, keeping him close. "Just know, I fully intended to come out of that fire. I swear, Hiro, I didn't go in there intending to die."

"I know, I know." Hiro sighed shakily. He felt exhausted. Not just physically but mentally. Here he was, talking to his brother who he thought was dead.

During all this, Baymax was quiet as he ran one more scan on Tadashi, concern coming over the robot's programming.

"Tadashi?"

"Yeah?" He looked up.

Baymax came closer. "Are you experiencing any numbness?"

Tadashi frowned as he realized it. "Yeah. Actually I am. I can't feel my right…" His eyes widened. "I can't feel my right leg."

"What!?" Hiro exclaimed. "Oh crap, crap, CRAP!"

"It's possibly burns, however…"

Tadashi hesitated before feeling where his right leg should've been and gasping in horror as his hand went right to the mattress. He moved the blanket, staring at what was left of it.

His right leg went to where his knee ended and that was all that was left. There was darker skin and scarring. Tadashi brought a hand to his mouth, feeling horrified. "What… did they do to me!?"

Hiro shook his head in disbelief. "I can't believe they didn't tell me this!" He slapped his forehead.

"They didn't tell you!?"

"No! If they did I'd be down the hall screaming at someone!"

Tadashi shook his head, putting his head in his hands. "This can't be happening."

Hiro brought his arms around his brother. "Shh…. It'll be okay. We'll figure something out." He murmured, the gears already turning in his head.

Tadashi sighed shakily, feeling like this was just one twisted dream he was waiting to wake up from. To wake up and find his brother snoring the day away in their room after a successful showcase. To have to rouse Hiro up to get ready for school. Where his teacher hadn't tried to murder him. "This is a nightmare."

"One of many but we'll work it out and I am so canceling my check up later-"

"No you are not!" Tadashi gave him a look. "This." He gestured to his stump. "Does not mean YOU have to neglect YOUR health."

Hiro sighed. "I just… don't wanna leave you alone."

"I won't be alone. I'll have Baymax if you don't want him going with you and I'll be waiting for you." Tadashi sighed, looking to the door. "Besides, I have some things I wanna discuss."

"Only kill 'em if you have to."

The brothers blinked in momentary confusion when they were pulled into an embrace by Baymax. "There there. It will be alright, Tadashi. Hiro, violence is not necessary."

"Ah, hate it when he's right." Hiro sighed, relaxing into the embrace. "But he has a point."

"Yeah." Tadashi sighed as well, doing the same. A timer went off as Hiro cursed, pulling away. "Hey! Don't swear!"

"SonofaGLITCH."

Tadashi grimaced, shaking his head. "Don't make it a habit to jump to that every time you're ticked."

"Yeah, "Motherboarder" boy."

"One time!"

Hiro chuckled a bit, giving his brother a playful shove. "Glad you're up, Bro. See ya. We'll work out this leg thing later."

"Right. Be good."

"I will, I will." Hiro left the room, closing the door.

Tadashi and Baymax looked to one another. "He's not going to." The elder Hamada deadpanned.

"No, he will not." Baymax sighed.

…  _Okay, sighing? Alright, he's spent too much time around Hiro._ Tadashi thought, moving the bed into an inclined position so he could lean back. "So, Baymax, did Hiro have his smartphone on him?"

"Yes. Why?"

"I need to do a little research and since mine got burnt up, gimme." He made a "give it" motion with his hand. Baymax retrieved it for him as Tadashi turned it on.

"Hiro will not be happy."

"Hiro never minded before-He password protected it? Really?"

…  _Do I dare? … He password protected it._

… _. Alright, I sewed tracking chips in his hoodies to find him at botfights. I owe him SOME privacy._

…  _But what if he's still bot fighting?_

_NO Tadashi. Privacy. Respect._

In the end, Tadashi placed the phone on the bedside table, sighing.

"Guilt?" Baymax asked.

"Yep." Tadashi pinched the bridge of his nose. "I don't wanna die just yet."


	7. Chapter 7: The Aunt

Chapter 7: The Aunt

"On a scale of one to ten-"

"How would you rate your pain?"

Hiro was slowly driving his doctor insane as they went over the same question for the fifth time. Hiro mocking him every time. Given who he lived with, he heard the question quite frequently. Enough that it just was amusing when he heard other people say it.

"...Yes." Adel Tulba sighed, taking a deep breath, reminding himself that Hiro was a child and that children were prone to misbehavior.

"A billion." He deadpanned.

"... Pardon?"

"A billion. More like a billion and a half or maybe that's just the hunger talking." Hiro folded his arms behind his head, humming in thought. "Wonder what their serving for lunch. Boy would I kill for some rice with bonito flakes."

"You may find out after the exam."

Hiro smirked.

Game on.

oooooo

While Hiro was aiming to give his doctor a mental breakdown the size of the entire city, Leon was waiting for Tristan outside of Tadashi and Hiro's room.

"Hey, Dean!" He yelled.

"Ooo lover's quarrel. Bet he's gonna propose." A doctor by the name of Cornelia said, giving Tristan a smug look. "That look just screams "I'm gonna marry her."."

"More like that look screams "I'm gonna throw you off the building."." Tristan muttered, giving Cornelia a look before going up to Leon. "What's up?"

"What's up? What's up!? You didn't tell them about the leg!?" Leon exclaimed, throwing his arms in the air in frustration.

"Oh NO. He's up!? Why didn't anyone-"

"The robot." He growled.

Tristan groaned, bringing a hand to her face. "I didn't mean for it to happen this way!"

"Ugh…" Leon pinched the bridge of his nose. "Go in there. Fix it."

"You're the doctor-"

"You're the idiot!"

"Hey!"

"Tristan!" Leon hissed. "You know what could happen!? This guy could sue us!"

"Excuse me for not telling a comatose patient and a little boy who got shot and nearly died that there was a missing part!" Tristan hissed back.

"Then go in there. Man up and fix it!"

"Excuse me?"

They stiffened, looking to see Hiro standing there, arms crossed, unimpressed. "If you two are done having your lover's spat outside my brother's room, we're still waiting to hear why his leg is missing. Thanks and buh bye." He sneered a little before heading in and running over to his brother, sitting on the edge of the bed, looking at what he was doing.

Tadashi and Baymax looked up from a game of cards. "... That was only ten minutes." Tadashi gave Hiro a look. "Did you…?"

"Make him send me back to my room? Yep." The teen grinned, bouncing in place a little.

Tadashi's eyes widened. He recognized the signs. "You stopped by the vending machines!"

"YEP!"

"What. Did. You. Drink!?"

"Mountain Dew!" The boy chirped.

Tadashi groaned bringing his free hand to his face. "Unbelievable."

"What?" Hiro blinked. "I thought you were cool with me drinking it!"

"In moderation! You're bouncing in place!"

"Here we go." Hiro rolled his eyes. "Anyway, what are you two playing? Poker? Black Jack? Anything illegal?" He rubbed his hands together.

"No, no and WHY is everything illegal with you!?" Tadashi chuckled a bit, flicking his sibling's forehead.

"Hey!"

"It's just Go Fish."

"I am winning." Baymax added.

"Sweet. I want in next game."

Tadashi glanced over to the door, seeing the stunned faces of Leon and Tristan. He motioned them in with his finger. "We won't bite."

"Much." Hiro muttered. Tadashi lightly smacked him upside the head. "Ow!"

"On a scale of-"

"A million and two."

Tadashi brought his hand to his face again. "You can't say stuff like that!"

"It is quite illogical. You suffered no abrasions." Baymax agreed. Hiro groaned dramatically, flopping down beside his brother.

"Feeling… sarcasm… increasing… don't know… if I'll… make it."

Tadashi patted his brother's head, looking to the two medical practitioners. "This happens often. Don't worry, we're not this crazy normally."

"Well…" Leon coughed awkwardly. "I know you have some concerns regarding your injury."

"Yeah." Tadashi put down his cards, crossing his arms, taking note that Hiro sat up and did the same. "Like why I was given a BKA in the first place."

"That wasn't our choice." The surgeon sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "When you were brought in, that leg was already severed."

"W-What?" Tadashi asked but it made sense now that he was thinking back to the fire. He couldn't feel his leg after the debris fell.

"Yes. From what the EMT's told us, when they pulled you out, your leg had been severed below the knee. We're guessing from the impact the debris made and possibly due to someone's display having a heavy use of glass." Leon explained, internally cringing as the Hamadas both went pale as the mental images went through Hiro's mind and Tadashi's memories. "It was, of course, very rough and there were burns. We just did our best to save what was left. I'm so sorry."

Tadashi sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "Alright, can't change that one. What else was done?"

Leon sighed as he began to explain, going in detail from the procedures performed when Tadashi was first brought in to recent ones. "A few weeks before you awoke you underwent some biopsies and MRIs to see how you were faring. Biopsies to make sure you weren't rejecting your skin grafts and MRI to be sure there wasn't any brain damage. Besides that, that's it."

"I see." Tadashi sighed. "Thank you for explaining, Doctor. One last thing."

"Yes?"

Then came the question Leon was dreading as Tadashi gave his best "older brother of doom" look.

"Why wasn't my brother informed of THAT?"

"In my defense, we didn't want to put Hiro through more stress. The day he woke up here was the day he found out you were still alive. He pretty much was in shock the entire time." Tristan cut in quickly. "And… we just wanted to see if you would awaken first. It sounds foolish and it was and I take full responsibility."

"Alright, I'm not going to sue you so stop giving me that look. Just…" Tadashi sighed. "Give me some time to think. Please excuse us."

They nodded and headed out, opening the door once more, hearing someone grumbling about demon children and "millions".

They looked to each other confused before leaving.

Hiro had a satisfied look as he folded his arms behind his head, leaning back. "Ah, music to my ears."

"... You gave that guy a mental breakdown?" Tadashi asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yep." Hiro grinned.

"... I am so proud of you."

Before long they settled into a debate on whether or not to apply one of their infamous "Hamada Brothers Rules" when their aunt came.

"Hiro we cannot do that to her!"

"Rule 39! Hamada Brothers take an opportunity if it's slapping them in the face!"

"Rule 40 Hamada Brothers don't give Aunt Cass an aneurysm if it can be avoided!"

Hiro snapped his fingers, accepting defeat. Rule 40 was one they probably broke a hundred times in their ten years of living with their aunt but it was worth it… Usually.

They heard a knock at the door. "Hiro? You awake?" Their aunt's voice called.

".. Wait, you didn't tell her did you?" Tadashi hissed in a whisper.

"Nope." Hiro gulped. "Uh…. Hey, Aunt Cass! Yeah, I'm up!"

She opened the door, coming in, carrying a bag of gummy bears. "Hope you're feeling-" She stopped short when her eyes landed on the brothers.

Tadashi gave an awkward wave. "Hi, Aunt Cass."

"Ta-Tadashi-"

THUD!

They winced as Baymax waddled over and set her on the spare bed in the room. "Boy, she didn't even get the scream out."

"Oh I am so gonna hear about this." Tadashi groaned.

"You? I didn't tell her!"


	8. Chapter 8: You Need Help

 

 

Chapter 8: You Need Help

Hiro and Tadashi were sitting nearby when their aunt began to stir.

"Think she's gonna be ticked I didn't tell her?" Hiro whispered.

"Compare that to me running into a fire and now her being in the right to scream in my ear." Tadashi whispered back.

"... Yep. We're screwed."

"Hmm….?" She slowly opened her eyes. "What just…" She looked over to the boys, eyes wide before tears filled them. She sat up, hugging Tadashi tightly.

Tadashi was surprised at how fast she moved, bringing his arms around her. He hugged her tightly, nuzzling a little.

"Tadashi… Oh my gosh… Let me look at you." She pulled back, cupping his cheek in her hand. He smiled, some tears of his own escaping.

"I'm okay." He murmured, hugging her once more. "I'm alright, Aunt Cass."

"Goodness… What the heck happened!? I-I thought… I thought…." She choked up looking away. "I thought we lost you."

"We think we have an idea what happened." Hiro said as Tadashi gestured to his missing limb.

Cass gasped a little looking at it. "Oh my word."

"I lost it in the fire. It was already gone when they pulled me out. There wasn't a body but there was ashes, right?" Tadashi asked.

She nodded, pain in her eyes as she remembered. "Yes."

"We think those ashes we did bury were just his leg." Hiro cut in. "He didn't have his ID anymore and he's never been to this hospital so there was no records of him."

"They were treating me under the radar so… yeah. In a nutshell, that's what we think happened." Tadashi said, giving a sheepish look. "I'm really sorry about all of the trouble I caused."

Cass ruffled his hair lightly. "Don't apologize but I swear on my sister's grave you EVER do that again I am going to put you in a glass house FOREVER!" She exclaimed, wagging her finger at Tadashi.

Tadashi cringed. "Yes, Ma'am."

"Good." She sighed. "A-Are you in any pain?"

"Nope."

"We're okay. Really."

"Good, good. " She sighed, rubbing her temples. "This… is a lot to take in. I'm happy, I'm stunned, I feel like smacking someone for not telling me there was someone pulled out of the fire…"

"Lots of issues." Hiro cringed. "It was like a twisted comedy of errors."

"Yeah." Tadashi cringed. "Never doing that again." He vowed.

Hiro frowned, hugging his brother. Cass smiled softly. It was a relief. Hiro was so relaxed, the most he seemed to have been in months. "Look at you two."

"Heh, the Hamada nerds." Tadashi hugged Hiro close. "King of the Nerd Lab."

"Ah, ah, ah. That's MY title now." Hiro corrected, nudging him lightly.

"Hey!" Tadashi got a mock offended look. "Little brat!"

"You know you love me." Hiro smirked.

Tadashi ruffled his hair. "Yeah, I do, ya knucklehead."

Cass couldn't help herself as she laughed. "Nothing's changed. You two just picked up where you left off!"

"Yep. So… Aunt Cass…" Hiro started as he and Tadashi gave her identical puppy eyed looks.

"ACK! NOT THE POUT!" She yelled, trying to look away.

"Can you please pick up some of our stuff from home?" Tadashi finished.

"Please? These hospital gowns are really flimsy!"

Tadashi nodded quickly. "And could really use my laptop."

"And my laptop! I have assignments!"

"And maybe some real food?"

"Alright, alright!" She grabbed the notepad off the nightstand, grabbing a pen and handing it to her eldest. "Make me a list. I'm gonna go poke your doctors about what's going on and I'll see what I can do."

"Kay!" They both called, waiting until she was gone before laughing as they high fived.

Hiro resumed his spot on his own bed, sighing. "Feels weird that I actually feel at home here. Is that weird?"

"Bro, I've been living here for six months and only recently have I even been aware." Tadashi pointed out, ruffling the boy's hair, smirking a bit at the protest he let out. "So, not weird. Besides, home's where the family is, right?"

"Yeah but I hate the food they serve here." Hiro cringed. "It's not Aunt Cass's or yours or Baymax's-"

"Wait, wait, what?"

"It's not Aunt Cass's or yours-"

"That last part."

Hiro blinked. "Baymax's?"

Tadashi was mildly disturbed. What had they been doing to his nurse bot!? "What else have you guys done to him?"

"Aunt Cass did it!" Hiro quickly defended. Tadashi facepalmed but remembered something as he jotted down "Charging Station for Baymax" on the list he was writing along with what else they needed.

"So what else do we need to survive here?"

"Gummy bears!"

"Hmm… Some iced tea would be nice. Chock full of sugar…" Tadashi felt his mouth water at the thought.

"I advise against consuming large amounts of sugar in such a short time, Tadashi." Baymax spoke up. "... And yes, what he said was true."

"I feel for ya big guy. Don't worry, I'll make it up to ya." Tadashi promised. "And I'm still chugging that tea."

 _He is more like his brother then he lets on._ Baymax noted on Tadashi's file.

Hiro sighed, looking up at his brother. He was worried about everything. How they were going to have to get Tadashi reinstated as being alive on EVERY document, get him a new phone. Did they even HAVE his tennis shoes anymore? He'll need a lot of help at the house. Would they send him home on crutches? He had seen some people with amputations in passing in the streets using crutches. Or would he get a prosthetic leg that probably wouldn't bend right even if they claimed it would?

He had to find a way to help his brother walk normal again. He just had to.

Tadashi smiled gently, coaxing him to lie down, covering him up with his blanket. Hiro had barely spent any time actually in bed. When he was feeling up for walking he just tuned out everything else. He barely stayed in one place, except for hanging out on Tadashi's side of the room. "I' gotcha. Why don't you get some rest? I'll finish up the list."

"Can we talk til I fall asleep?" Hiro asked softly, yawning a little. He didn't realize how tired he was and how exhausted he looked.

"Of course. Anything in particular?"

_You need help._

Hiro just shrugged. "What else do we need?"

"Lessee…" Tadashi hummed in thought. "We need pajamas, real clothes because we both know we'll go crazy if we're in our pajamas all day long."

"Speak for yourself."

"Shoes… Erm… make that shoes for you and one shoe for me." Tadashi cringed a bit but tried to smile. "Well, I guess I'll be buying half off deals from now on." He tried to joke to lighten the mood.

Hiro didn't smile and just reached for his sibling's hand. "You'll be okay. They do a lot of advanced stuff. Maybe we can get ya a transplant."

The thought of having a dead person's leg attached to him until who knows when made Tadashi a little sick. "I'd rather stick with crutches or something else." He said quickly.

"Hey, your choice. I just want you better." Hiro mumbled.

Tadashi stroked the back of his hand with his thumb. "I'm getting better now that I'm awake. Now, c'mon, help me think here if you're not gonna sleep."

Hiro nodded as a thought jumped to him. He couldn't help the smirk that came across his features. "Well… add underwear unless you wanna take a page out of Fred's book."

Tadashi cringed. "While what he does is both disgusting and awesome, I'm pretty sure we don't wanna do that."

He jotted down "UNDERWEAR" in capital letters and underlined it six times. Even though he was sure his aunt knew anyway, due to Hiro bringing this up, he added in smaller letters: "Enough to last the week, PLEASE?" and putting a smiley face.

"Did you know Fred's rich?"

"... You didn't?" Tadashi raised an eyebrow.

"Dude, he's the school mascot and he hasn't done laundry in six months." Hiro cringed. "What's he do, just buy undies in bulk so they'll last?"

"Hiro, you're questioning the habits of our school mascot and one of our friends, who wanted a legit invisible sandwich." Tadashi pointed out. "So, yeah. I wouldn't question too much. It'd hurt your brain."

"Nothing can hurt my brain." Hiro stuck his tongue out childishly.

"Incorrect, many things can cause-"

"Expression." Both brothers said in unison.

Tadashi nodded to himself as he finished the list.

When Cass returned, she found Hiro and Tadashi talking quietly as he gave her the list. "Thanks." He murmured, giving her a grateful look. "Sorry we're so much trouble."

"Don't worry about it. You're my kids. I love you. I'll take care of this, alright?" She promised, ruffling her eldest nephew's hair. She bid farewell as she started reading it over, chuckling a bit at the extra note's Tadashi placed.

_Clothes, day and night. Get Hiro a sweater, please. The nurses are wondering if he's hoarding blankets out of the warmer in the hall._

_Food, we don't care what kind. (But preferably anything with bacon. Like a burger. Or two. Or five.)_

_UNDERWEAR (Enough to last us the week please.)_

_Shoes. Real shoes. Not slippers. We have enough slippers here and we're sick of them._

_Laptops and chargers._

_Our tool boxes, please? PLEASE?_

She cringed reading this, recalling many a times where it ended horribly when they were given their tools and boredom.

_Baymax's charger._

_Chocolate comets, please!_

_Sweet tea. Copious amounts. Enough to just fill the IV bags._

_Books. Hiro wants these off his shelf:_

_The Percy Jackson series._

_The Darkest Minds trilogy_

_His Unwind boxset and his kindle._

_Ipods and headphones for both. (Double headphone jack too so we can listen to each other's stuff.)_

_Rice candy_

_(Don't get rice candy, it's gross. -HH)_

_Gummy bears!_

_(Ignore him._ _**I** _ _like rice candy. -TH)_

_Some pastries to bribe the night nurses with so they won't enforce curfew. -HH_

_Thanks, Aunt Cass! We love you!_

_PS: Can you get my ninja's hat, please? I'll love you forever! -TH_

She shook her head, sighing happily. It was nice to be able to say she had two nephews again.

_But boy can they fill up a list._

_They're going to be eating me out of house and home again…_

_I can't wait!_

oooooo

"Do you think we asked for too much?" Hiro questioned, mid yawn.

"I don't think so. I mean, it's necessary. Rule 59, Hiro needs his gummy bears or someone's gonna get hurt." Tadashi ruffled his sibling's hair.

Hiro chuckled. "Darn right. And Rule 60, Tadashi goes nuts without his rice candy."

"Darn right!"

"Please do not, eat TOOoooo Muuuuuuch." Baymax's voice slurred as he bent over at an awkward angle. Hiro sat up with a mildly horrified look.

"What… is wrong?" Tadashi questioned.

Baymax staggered. "Loooow battery."

"Oh… CRAP!" Hiro yelled, diving across the room to lock the door. "You've never seen this!?"

"No!"

"I am your personal Baymax, he-health care." Baymax did his signature wave, looking out of it as he blinked, letting out a little laugh.

Tadashi raised an eyebrow. "He… sounds drunk."

"Yeah, I told you to give him supercapacitors but ya didn't listen!" Hiro exclaimed.

"I didn't know-OOF!" Tadashi blinked as Baymax hugged him, lifting him out of his chair. "Uh… Hi?"

Baymax plopped down on the floor with Tadashi, petting his head. "Hairy baby! Hairy baby…"

Hiro grabbed his phone, unlocking it.

"Hiro no, no, no-"

CLICK!

Only that got the attention of the robot as he got up, staggering Hiro's way. Hiro yelped and ran a lap around the room.

"CALL HIM OFF!"

"I will scan you now, scan complete! P-Personal Baymax… Healthcare!"

Tadashi laughed, watching the teen trying to outrun the robot as Baymax started to deflate a little. "This… is weird… and funny at the same time!"

"No it's-OOF!"

Hiro tripped, hitting the floor as Baymax pulled him into an embrace, petting his head.

Tadashi grabbed Hiro's discarded phone and realizing it was still unlocked smirked. "Say "Baymax" Otouto~!"

"TADASHI NO-"

CLICK!


	9. Chapter 9: I'll be here

Chapter 9: I'll Be Here

Tadashi and Hiro watched from Tadashi's side of the room, the siblings on their knees, peering over to the currently charging healthcare companion. They had just barely gotten Baymax back on the charger before fleeing to the other side of the room and ducking near the bed.

"We should just say we're satisfied so he can charge in peace." Hiro murmured.

"I don't want us without some form of protection. I still don't really trust the doctors here." Tadashi confessed quietly, his Ninja's hat back on it's rightful place upon his head.

"When are they letting ya out anyway?"

"When they got me situated with the crutches or whatever." Tadashi sighed. "So, not anytime soon. You, in a few days."

"... So, that week's worth of clothes-"

"You are changing more than twice this week, Buster."

'Alright, alright." Hiro mumbled. "Still… I don't wanna go home."

Tadashi forgetting they were hiding, looked to him, concerned. "Why not?"

"You're not there." Hiro lowered his head. "You're not there!"

"Oh, oh, Hiro." Tadashi frowned. "It's not gonna be for long-"

"It's already been long enough!" The boy exclaimed, getting up and sitting on the bed, crossing his arms.

Tadashi pulled himself up beside his brother. "Hiro, it'll be okay-"

"What if something happens?" Hiro said, looking up at his sibling. Tadashi recoiled a bit, seeing there was fear in the boy's eyes. "What if they mistake you for someone else and take something else? Or what if they get you mixed up with an organ donor and kill you!?"

"Hiro, those mistakes rarely happen-"

"IT HAPPENED ONCE ALREADY!" Hiro screamed, breaking into a small sob. "We thought you were dead!"

Tadashi frowned, bringing Hiro into his arms, holding him close. "Oh, Hiro… Shh, shh… I'm here… I'm here." He tried soothing him, rocking him a little. Hiro clung to his shirt, burying his face in his chest.

"You weren't… You weren't…" Hiro whimpered.

Tadashi was worried. He didn't know Hiro washurt this bad. He knew he had some problems but… he thought it was getting under control. He frowned, cradling him close. "Shhh… I got you. It's okay… You're okay."

"I'm not okay." Hiro mumbled, slumping against his brother. He was tired, he was fed up with being in the hospital but he didn't want to leave Tadashi again either. "What if they don't let me in now…?"

"They won't… C'mon." Tadashi moved himself and his brother so Hiro was laying down with Tadashi. Hiro relaxed a little, curling up to his side. Tadashi stroked his hair, humming softly.

Hiro went quiet, nuzzling as he recognized the song.  _It's my song._ He hadn't heard it in such a long time.

Tadashi started to sing softly as he brought the blanket up over them both. "Brother dear brother, I promise to always be by your side." He brought an arm around Hiro. Hiro rested his head against Tadashi's chest, closing his eyes.

"Through rain and through fire, Nii-san will be here. To chase away the nightmares and bring in the dreams." He smiled gently, nuzzling his little brother. He loved him so much and just wanted to see him happy again.

Hiro started to drift off, letting out a little yawn, huddling close.

Tadashi ran his hand through Hiro's hair. "And when I am away I will always know, that when I return home. There you will be, waiting for me."

Hiro fell silent as he drifted off to sleep, relaxing completely.

Tadashi kissed his forehead before turning off the lights.

"Goodnight."

_I will always be here, Hiro. Never leaving you again._

oooooo

Hiro sighed, looking at himself in the mirror. He still had some bags under his eyes and he still felt tired. He figured it would fade off as he got back into his usual routine.

He splashed some water on his face before looking himself over. He figured he was fine before heading out of the room. He sighed as he started to pack up his bags. "You wanna keep my phone?"

"Aunt Cass is lending me her spare until we can get me back on the phone plan again. I'll be fine Hiro." Tadashi assured him, beckoning him over. "C'mere, let's see ya."

Hiro walked over, standing at his brother's bedside. Tadashi nodded his approval. "SFIT hoodie. Niiice."

"Thanks." Hiro sighed, wringing his hands in worry. Baymax waddled over to the two, ruffling Hiro's hair gently.

"I will watch over Tadashi. Will you be alright without me?" He asked as Hiro looked up.

The boy wasn't sure to be honest. He was so used to having Baymax around that it would feel weird not having him by his side… but he had to deal with it. He wasn't leaving Tadashi alone with the "butchers" as he started calling a few of the doctors.

He was still holding a grudge and he wasn't going to let it go any time soon. "I will. I know I will. Just keep Bro safe."

"I'll be fine." Tadashi hugged Hiro quickly. "I'll come home soon. Promise."

"Okay… Love you." Hiro hugged him tightly, nuzzling. "Get lots of rest… a-and don't forget to take your meds and-"

"Hey, it's my job to mother hen, not yours." Tadashi reminded him lightly, ruffling his hair. "Big Brother's job."

"Yeah… By the way um… what do we do about the gang?" Hiro asked, recalling that neither had told their friends at SFIT about Tadashi.

"I wanna wait till I'm closer to getting outta here. Just for a bit… if it's okay."

Hiro nodded. "Yeah, of course. 'Sides, I'll just say the same excuse I've been giving them. The nurses are were mad that I threw a stretcher down the staircase - Close your mouth Tadashi I didn't really- and that I lost visitors rights as per Aunt Cass's orders."

Tadashi blinked. "... That actually might work. Huh."

"Yeah. I'll do good in class." Hiro promised.

"That's my brother." Tadashi smiled, feeling pride. "Look at you, going to college."

"Thanks to my nerd brother." Hiro smiled, offering him a fist bump.

Tadashi grinned as they did their usual fist bump… as Baymax joined in.

"FWOOSH!" The brothers cheered.

"... Balalala." Baymax said. They chuckled before Hiro bid Tadashi goodbye to join his aunt in the hall.

"Don't worry, you can see him after school." She assured him as Hiro looked back, waving a bit.

He really wished he could just stay.

But he had work to do as well.

Plenty of assignments to catch up on. Tadashi would have his head if he just ignored them blatantly. He had friends to see… and a special project to work on.

_Don't worry, Bro. I'll get this figured out._


	10. Chapter 10: Progress and Texting

Chapter 10: Progress and Texting

"OOF!"

THUD!

"You have fallen."

Tadashi grimaced as Baymax helped him stand. He was starting psychical therapy with a prosthetic and so far it wasn't faring well. He had been awake for just over two weeks now.

He thought it'd be easy for some reason but despite the movements he was able to do thanks to having his brother there, without him it was harder. He didn't realize how much he had been relying on Hiro and Baymax until one of their little trio was off at school.

"Hey, it's alright!" The therapist said, helping as well. "You'll get it."

_Can I go back to my room?_

oooooo

_Can I go back to the hospital?_

Hiro sighed, staring at the computer screen before him. He had ideas and it was just a matter of executing them properly.

_Needs to work properly._

_Act like part of him._

_Needs something discreet._

The image on the screen being that of a robotic leg with smaller details added in. If all went well, it would work even if Tadashi was pushing himself psychically.

_Now, to figure out the right control. I can't make the same kind of headband I did for the microbots._

_One: The whole microbots thing is kind of cursed._

_Two: He doesn't need people swiping it._

_So, options…_

Hiro rendered what first looked like a hearing aid that would be outfitted to act as a control for the leg, to control the impulses Tadashi's brain would still be sending to the missing pieces.  _Use those signals to my advantage._

…  _But what if that's not even that discreet?_

_Or what if it's uncomfortable?_

Hiro sighed, wishing it wasn't a surprise. He didn't want to give Tadashi false hope. It would be easier to get his input.

Or…

Hiro smirked as a thought came to him as he loaded the designs onto a flashdrive before pocketing it. "AUNT CASS, I'M MAKING A RUN TO THE LAB!"

"Alright, I'm visiting your brother. If you want to hang out with him, come by in an hour!" She called.

"Will do!" Hiro yelled as he ran out the door.

oooooo

Hiro had been unusually quiet since returning to class but he was making up for the lost time. He was also working quickly on his project for his brother.

He squinted as he connected a circuit, sighing in relief before jumping, hearing his phone go off. He checked it, seeing it was a text from his aunt's phone. He opened it and smirked.

_WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME UNDIVIDED WAS OUT!? -TH_

Hiro chuckled, texting back.

_I thought the fact the boxset had FOUR books was a big enough tip off Nii-san! - HH_

_Now I won't get a chance to read it cause the MDs are swarming! - TH_

_Your robot sent me to bed when I was in the middle of it. Deal. - HH_

He could practically hear Tadashi's frustration as he went back to work. Hiro still could hardly believe this was actually happening. That his brother was alive and on the mend.

His phone buzzed as he felt his heart sink with the next text. There was a picture of the prosthetic Tadashi had been using sitting in the waste basket next to his bed with the caption: "I am NEVER using this AGAIN!"

 _Oh, Big bro…_ He thought.  _Just hang on._

Hiro cracked his knuckles as he started to work anew.

oooooo

It was a few days later when Hiro was working that he got caught by surprise. He thought he was alone for a bit due to the gang's own projects, so he was talking to his brother on the phone, keeping it pressed between his shoulder and his ear as he worked.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm using your stuff-"

"Hiro?"

Hiro froze, turning to the sound to see Honey Lemon looking in, a concerned look in her eyes. "Oh uh… Hey, Honey!"

"Who are you talking to?"

Hiro searched his mind for an answer before one left his mouth. "My girlfriend!" He said quickly.

Tadashi was heard choking on his laughter on the other line.

Honey Lemon raised an eyebrow. "Is that so?" She asked not believing it.

"Y-yeah uh… W-what's up?"

"Just wanted to see if you were okay… That and Fred's offering to pay for lunch. What do you want?"

"Buffalo wings as usual and some white rice."

"Alright." She left, closing the door to give Hiro some privacy. "Tell your girlfriend I said hi!" She called.

Hiro was quiet, hearing Tadashi laugh freely. "Oh, shut up!" He hissed.

"Oh, Hiro, you say the most romantic things." Tadashi said in a high pitched "girly" voice before cracking up. "BAHAHAHAHA!"

"I'm gonna kill you." He grumbled. "Just for that, I'm not telling you what I'm working on."

"HEY!"

"Sorry, can't hear you~"

"Otouto!"

"Nii-" He lowered his voice. "Nii-san!"

_Mark my words, I'm gonna have some revenge._

"But seriously, "my girlfriend"? I could've come up with a better excuse!"

"Like you ever had a girlfriend either."

"I didn't need a girlfriend at the time. The robotics were my girlfriend."

"Gee and here I thought Honey was." Hiro smirked.

Tadashi stammered. "Uh, uh w-what!?"

"You heard me."

 _DEMON SPAWN._ Tadashi thought, rubbing the back of his neck. "Oh, look at the time, I gotta go."

"Don't break anyone's heart."

"HIRO!"

Hiro hung up, snickering a bit. He had missed the banter and it was evident now that he had more ammo.

_Ah, Bro. Love him and get annoyed with him at the same time._


	11. Chapter 11: Out of the Bag

 

Chapter 11: Out of the Bag

"Bro, you look like crud."

Hiro gave Tadashi a look as he went over to his brother, sitting on the edge of the bed. "And good freaking morning to you too." He grumbled, drinking some of the coffee he had grabbed along the way.

Tadashi raised an eyebrow at him. "And you're drinking coffee? Gee, here I thought you wanted to be tall."

"You freaking hypocrite." Hiro mumbled, giving him a look. "I saw you suck down ten cups once!"

"No I didn't!"

"Yes you did!"

"Alright you two, break it up!" Cass put an arm between the two. "Hiro, you're still half asleep, Tadashi, you know no one likes being bugged when their not even fully awake."

"It's two PM." Tadashi gave Hiro a worried look. "Have you even gone to bed?"

 _No._ "Yes." Hiro lied through his teeth, taking another drink of his coffee. "And you better not try your tricks because I have caffeine in my system."

"Little Bro, Little Bro… I accept the challenge." Tadashi smirked.

Cass sighed, shaking her head. "Why do I even try?"

"Because you love us?" Both responded.

"Yep. That's the one."

"By the way, where's our favorite marshmallow?"

Tadashi pointed to the charging station. "He's taking a break. Didn't wanna repeat of the low battery incident."

Hiro cringed remembering. "Yeah, that wasn't our best moment."

"Really funny though."

Cass shook her head. "You two and your robots."

 _Oh, you haven't seen nothin' yet._ Hiro thought, smirking a bit.  _Just wait._

oooooo

The team was growing concerned with the time Hiro was spending isolating himself. Usually when he was working on something, he would be a bit of a loner for a bit but he would at least walk around. Ask for ideas. Annoy the other freshmen at least by proving just why their projects weren't working.

Not even the threat of Gogo's throwing disks could snap him out of this one.

"He's doing the muttering." The biker noted, watching the teen work. Hiro's work glasses at the school were a little too big and eventually he just threw them across the room, foregoing them. "And he's ignoring safety."

"Someone has to speak up." Wasabi commented.

"All in favor of reliving that time when Tadashi was tempted to throw us to the Baymax God say "aye"." Fred proposed.

All hands went up.

"Aye!"

The team made their way in, looking at the mess Hiro had created. Rough sketches were pinned or taped down all over the places along with measurements.

Hiro himself was muttering to himself as he worked. "Almost, almost… YES!"

"Hiro?"

"GAH!" He threw his wrench up in the air as he whirled around. Gogo pulled him in his office chair forward as the wrench came down with a clatter just where he had been. "What the heck!? I thought we established an always knock policy. Society has rules, guys!"

 _Oh, great, he picks NOW to follow the rules of society when he's not borrowing tools!_ Wasabi thought, feeling his eye twitch a bit. "We forego it when you're not acting like yourself." He said, gesturing to the chaos that was Hiro's work table.

"I-I'm fine!" The teen denied, crossing his arms.

"Oh yeah? Where's Baymax?" Gogo asked, looking at some of the sketches, dodging as Hiro tried to get them back.

"He's charging! His battery is like totally dead!"

"So, you're actually functioning without him?" Fred asked in one of his rare moments of utter seriousness. He didn't believe it since when Baymax was around, Hiro was better about things than he was now. He had his moments where he needed to be alone or just talk it out in private with the robot but the crazed muttering, the messy workspace and the rings under the boy's eyes said that he still needed his nursebot.

Hiro gave an uncomfortable look. "I uh… Well…" He sighed. "No, not really. But I'm not gonna whine or cry about it. I have to man up."

"Hiro." Honey Lemon squeezed his shoulder. "You know you can always, talk to us about anything. That's what friends are for."

"I know." He smiled a bit. "Thanks, guys. Sorry for worrying you."

"Anytime." Wasabi ruffled the boy's hair as he yelped, trying to guard his head.

"HEY! Quit it!"

"Gotcha!"

Hiro chuckled but gulped when Gogo grabbed a photograph off of his desk. "What… is this? Is this someone's leg!?"

"Hey! That's private!"

That's when they noticed the silvery limb Hiro had been working on. Silvery in color, resembling as much of a human leg as it could, including toes and various components scattered around. "Hiro… What's this for?" Wasabi asked, looking at the teen.

Hiro gulped, fiddling with his shirt collar a little. He didn't expect this to happen. He sighed and sat back down in his desk chair, humming in thought wondering how to word it.

"... How would you guys feel about changing our team name to something different?"

"Like what? Super Team Five? We firing someone? Can I pick who?"

WHACK!

"OW!"

"Zip it. Fred." Gogo muttered.

Hiro chuckled. "Oh no, no, no one's getting fired… but I was thinking maybe Big Hero 7 sounded good."

"Big Hero 7?" Everyone exchanged a look.

"We getting a new member?" Gogo asked.

"Who?!" Honey Lemon asked excitedly.

Hiro grinned sheepishly before he held up a finger as his phone went off. "One sec." He checked, seeing it was a text, a photograph at that.

Tadashi was giving a thumbs up in front of a rig near the nurse's station. The message read: "Get your butt over here. It's me vs the pediatric ward! HELP!"

Hiro burst out laughing as he finished reading it, sending a reply. "On my way. BTW bringing reinforcements of sorts."

He looked up at the team and held up the phone's photograph.

"I think you'll find him familiar."

Everyone looked as they gasped.

Thoughts ran through their minds as they looked closer. Same brown eyes, same grin, the only real change was the fact he was wearing pajamas. He even had his San Fransokyo Ninja's hat in the picture and he was a little paler than normal. "T-Tadashi!?"

HIro nodded grinning. "The one and only."

"But how-"

"When-"

"WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL US!?"

"Why don't you ask Tadashi this stuff when we see him soon? C'mon, get your butts moving… and just giving a heads up…" Hiro trailed off as he packed up his things, quickly laying a tarp over the prosthetic. "This leg is a secret. Tadashi did lose his leg in the fire so, he needs it."

They all understood but they all felt a similar sense of pride.

Their "little brother" was taking after his big brother.

"Well." Honey Lemon smiled through some happy tears that came to her eyes. "Let's go visit Tadashi!"

 


	12. Chapter 12: Reconnect

Chapter 12: Reconnect

Tadashi sighed, feeling nervous as he fiddled with his hat. "I don't know. Maybe this was a bad idea."

"It is too late to go back." Baymax replied, giving his creator a pat on the head. "It will be alright. Your friends have missed you."

"Yeah but Gogo's probably gonna brain me for the whole running into a fire thing."

"... Most likely but I will bring you back if she kills you."

_Defibrillator hands… Yep. Real glad I put those in now._

Tadashi gave his robot a small smirk. "Thanks Big Guy-"

There was a rapid knocking at the door.

"Who is it?" He called.

"Your favorite brother!"

"I have a brother?" Tadashi asked mockingly. "Gee, I thought you were a bot fighter."

Hiro rolled his eyes, opening the door. "You're still a dork."

"And hello to you too-" Tadashi's sarcasm was cut off as he saw the others right behind him. "Uh…" He was still caught off guard, even if had been somewhat expecting them.

Hiro gave a sheepish look as the gang filed in. "Sorry Bro, cat got out of the bag."

Tadashi nodded as he looked at his friends.

"Hey, guys."

Before he knew it he got swept up into a round of hugging and greetings.

"Good to have you back Tadashi." Wasabi grinned as he and Tadashi exchanged a fist bump. Fred grabbed him in a noogie, messing up his hair, taking the chance of Tadashi missing his hat.

"The zombie lives!"

"I'm not a zombie, Fred! And don't you dare make that a nickname!" Tadashi laughed, trying to get loose.

"Oh, you're so getting a nickname!" Fred smirked but let him go.

Gogo grabbed him by his shirt and pulled him forward. "You ever scare us like that again and I will kill you where you sit. Capiche?"

Tadashi gulped. "Ca-Capiche!"

"Guys, give him some breathing room!" Hiro said, trying to get between his friends and his sibling. "You're gonna crush him!"

"I'm fine. Thanks, everyone. I-I'm sorry for the trouble I caused." Tadashi glanced down. "I didn't know I'd have hurt you guys this bad."

"Hey, it's in the past. What matters is you're here now." Wasabi told him as Tadashi glanced back up.

"Thanks, Wasabi." He smiled.

Honey Lemon came over, looking him over. "Tada…" She murmured.

Tadashi took one of her hands in his. "I'm here."

She threw her arms around him before he could react, hugging him tightly. Honey Lemon was quiet, just holding him close. Tadashi brought his arms around her, stroking her hair.

"Shh… I'm here… I'm here." He murmured, nuzzling her a little. "I'm okay."

"Thank goodness. I thought we lost you." Honey Lemon murmured, pulling back a bit, taking in his features. The gentle smile that seemed to always say "everything's alright" even if it seemed it wasn't. His eyes that held confidence but kindness.

Things she thought she'd never see again when he had "died". Honey Lemon teared up a bit, remembering it as she hugged Tadashi again. "You're my best friend. Don't do that again."

Tadashi kept her close, giving a nod. "I won't being do that again anytime soon. I missed you guys." He said, looking to all of them. "It's not the same without having my friends."

"Ahem."

"And my little brother who may be a devil."

"Thank you."

They all laughed before they jumped a bit, hearing a shriek from the hallway.

"HAMADA, I KNOW THIS WAS YOU!" Tristan shrieked.

Tadashi just smirked, giving a bit of a bow.

Hiro clapped. "What'd you do to her?"

"Let's just say pretending I'm not hungry was worth it."

They all cringed.

"Hospital food avalanche?!" Hiro yelled.

"Yep."

Gogo shook her head. "Be afraid everyone, be very afraid. We have two Hamadas in our midst again."

"I don't think we'd have 'em any other way." Fred grinned.

Honey Lemon nodded, keeping close to Tadashi. "Two Hamadas are better than one."

Tadashi chuckled, reaching over and ruffling his little brother's hair. "Yep."

"HEY!" Hiro yelped, trying to guard his head. "QUIT IT!"

"Oh no, my hand is possessed! I can't… control it!" Tadashi yelled dramatically before ruffling Hiro's hair once more.

"DASHI!"

The team laughed at the brothers' antics.

Life looked good right then. Tadashi was alive and on the mend. Hiro had his brother back and they had their best friend back.

oooooo

"So, not a lot has changed?"

Everyone was with Tadashi in the physical therapy room as he tried once again to get used to walking with a different prosthetic this time.

Everyone shook their heads, biting their tongues a little.

_Can't tell him about THAT fiasco just yet. He's already got enough to take in._

"Not really. Just trying to get through school and be sure our projects don't flop." Wasabi said, leaning back. "We all got a running tally of freak accidents."

Honey Lemon lowered her head sheepishly. "I… have a record. Unfortunately."

"She got close to making an explosion that I swear could've blown up the moon." Gogo smirked, nudging her playfully.

"Ehehe."

Tadashi chuckled. "Nothing new to me."

Hiro smirked. "All in all, the same ol'same old… and my project tried to throw me out a window but that's faulty servos."

Tadashi winced. "Sounds like Baymax when I was still working on him though least he didn't toss me. I think the worst was punches, funniest… or rather, weirdest, was when he went on hug fests. Honey Lemon could tell you all about that clearly."

Honey Lemon giggled, remembering it. "Yeah, he didn't want to let go. It was funny. Good thing he was so cute."

Baymax lowered his head as if giving a sheepish look.

"I am sorry about that, Tadashi."

"Hey, I was still getting your programming in order. Don't worry about it-" Tadashi slipped, Baymax catching him. "Ugh…"

Hiro shook his head. "You're still getting better. Don't go breaking something else."

Baymax patted his creator's head. "There, there."

Tadashi sighed. "I won't. Least I'm not slipping as much like I did last time but I think I hate this leg just as much as the last one." He looked down at the fake leg, giving an annoyed look.

Gogo shook her head. "If I had a say in it, there'd be some serious tricking out to be had."

"I thought you liked him enough to not want to kill him with those wheels-"

WHACK!

"Thank you for your input, Fred."

Tadashi shook his head. "I don't want to cramp Gogo's style. Speed is her thing. Don't want to steal that now. Don't want to die just yet."

"Good boy." She smirked.

 _Oh, if you only knew Bro. Soon… I just gotta finish it._ Hiro thought, squeezing his sibling's arm. "It'll work out Bro. Just gotta find a new angle, right?"

Tadashi gave a nod, smiling. "Yeah, more than anything though… I want to get out of here. Go home and… well, try to pick up where I left off." He looked to all his friends. "I want to re-enroll back into SFIT."

"That, we can help with for sure." Honey Lemon smiled.

"Yeah, if they give us a hard time, I know a good lawyer or two." Fred smirked a bit. "Though if you need a fire breathing lizard-"

"NO."

Tadashi blinked. "Fire breathing what now…?"

"Nothing!"

"He was just joking!"

"One of his "not really science" things!"

Hiro nodded quickly, hoping Tadashi didn't see through it.  _Oh, we are so busted if another slips out._

"O-kay then..."  _That was a little too quick of a response. They're not telling me something but I'm probably not gonna get a straight answer so best to leave it alone for now._

"A-Anyway." Hiro cleared his throat. "We're looking forward to you getting outta here too, Tadashi. Aunt Cass keeps making plans for a big welcome home dinner. There was talk of hot wings."

"Numb faces ahoy!" Tadashi laughed.

"Darn right!" Hiro laughed.

"Yeah, your aunt can cook, that's for sure. Those wings though, man." Gogo shook her head. "I think she could kill someone with those if she tried hard enough."

"I think she nearly killed Fred." Wasabi chuckled, nudging his friend. "Face was redder than a tomato when he tried one."

Fred laughed, nudging him back. "Yeah, could've breathed fire I bet."

"Pyromaniac." Hiro deadpanned.

Tadashi laughed again, wiping a tear away from his eye.

"Oh gosh, I've missed you guys."

"We missed you too."

The group continued chatting… until Tristan peered in. "Oh hey, your friends came. Quick, which one is your girlfriend?"

Tadashi got a little red in the face.

"P-PARDON?!"

The nurse smirked, leaning on the doorway. "You heard me. Which one of these pretty girls is your girlfriend? I mean, with that face, I'd be surprised."

Hiro facepalmed, trying not to laugh.  _Seriously. He's never gonna hear the end of this one!_

Tadashi was baffled, glancing at the two girls before looking at Tristan.

"M-Mind you I was coupled up with school! Robotics were my girlfriend!"

Tristan chuckled, shaking her head. "Oh, denial Nice."

"I don't see YOU wearing a ring yourself." Hiro quipped.

Tristan went a little red. "Oh, uh, look at the time! Don't keep him up too long!" She fled.

Tadashi sighed, running a hand through his hair.

"Ugh… I apologize for that Honey and Gogo. She kind of needs her drama fill."

"It's fine." Gogo waved it off. "Some people…"

Honey Lemon nodded, blushing a little. "Y-Yeah. It's fine."

"That nurse is always trying to talk his ear off. Apparently she used to talk as loud as she could when he was out cold."

"And I don't remember much since everything in between is all fuzzy."

"Well, least she didn't prod further… though, Tadashi." Fred gave a bit of an evil look. "You sure about that whole robotics were your girlfriend?"

"Oh come on, not you too!"

"I'm just saying that I do recall times you left your station and would be in close proximity of Honey Lemon's station for a good amount of time."

_Oh, great, now he's getting all fancy in terms. That is NEVER a good sign._

"Oh, whoa, whoa!" Hiro smirked. "Honey Lemon, eh?"

"Yeah! He would say he needed to stretch his legs or was looking for a tool and it would be like forty five minutes till he finally got back to work!"

"Freeeed!" Tadashi was turning a little red.

"Oh deal with it, Hamada." Gogo smirked. "I remember once you spent the entire time at her station and had five minutes to scramble to your next class."

Hiro laughed. "You were LATE!?"

"I still made it!"

"Mm-hm. Suuuure. "

_Oh, this is good stuff. Evil little brother liiiikes._

Tadashi lowered his head and if it was possible, he probably would've had steam coming off him.

_For the love of all that is holy please stop. I just liked being around Honey Lemon because she listened to me when I needed to vent and… she's a great girl too._

"A-Alright guys let's stop stressing Tada out." Honey Lemon was a bit red in the face herself as she tried to get things under order.

"Alright, subject change- but you are so hearing about that later, Bro- You still got the number of that doc you kept talking to? The regular at the cafe? Cinnamon Roll addict?" Hiro asked, looking up to his brother.

"You mean Andy Yablonski? Yeah. Got his number in my old journal back at home. Actually…" He dug in his pocket, pulling out the phone he was currently using. "Yep, his number is on here too."

"Awesome. Lemme see it real quick!" Hiro went to grab the phone.  _Just don't ask me why-_

Tadashi held the phone back a little.

"Hold a sec. Since when has Andy been of any interest to you?"

"Why is that question needed?" Hiro shot back, reaching for it.

…  _Okay, sort of a point. But I don't recall him ever talking to the guy… or maybe he did after I "died"._

Tadashi sighed, handing the phone over.

Hiro grinned as he entered the number into his own phone before handing it back. "Thank you, Nii-san~"

"You still call him that, eh?"

"I don't wanna hear it, Fred!"

Tadashi ruffled his hair.

"Love you, Otouto."

Click!

Honey Lemon quickly snapped a picture before they could realize it.

"Ack! We're under assault by cameras!" Hiro yelled, ducking behind Tadashi. "Take him instead! He's old!"

"HEY!"

Honey Lemon giggled. "Oh come on, you're both adorable."

Both brothers turned red.

_Why does this always happen to us!?_

"Al-Alright." Hiro mumbled. "You win but he's still old-"

WONK!

"But still got a fist."

"OW!" Hiro, rubbed his head. "Yeah and the martial art precision to go with it!"

"Alright, children, break it up." Gogo smirked, glancing at the clock, sighing. "Remind me, how long do visiting hours go?"

"I think till seven." Hiro murmured, glancing at the clock, cringing. "Oh man, we've been here THAT long!?"

"Guess we got so caught up in the reunion. Can't blame us though." Wasabi looked to Tadashi. "We missed our friend after all."

Tadashi gave a sympathetic look. "Guys…"

"You're our best friend Tadashi. We couldn't believe it at first when Hiro told us until you sent him that text. It's incredible."

Hiro hugged his brother. "Yeah. Do us a favor and don't scare us again."

Tadashi hugged him. "I… I'll try." He closed his eyes, resting his head against his brothers.

Honey Lemon sneaked another photo, making sure the flash was off this time so they didn't notice.

Hiro sighed in content, nuzzling a little. "Good."

Gogo leaned over to Honey Lemon.

"I want copies of those later." She whispered.

"You got it."

Hiro leaned back, sighing. "Guess we better get going. I'll be a little late tomorrow so don't kill anyone unless you have to- but if you want my opinion, go after Dr. Marks first."

Tadashi chuckled, ruffling his brother's hair. "Noted… and get some rest, okay? Those dark circles aren't a good look for you."

"I'm trying the goth look." Hiro joked, trying to smooth his hair down a little. "But I'll try. I promise."

"If he doesn't, we'll confiscate the coffee maker until he does." Gogo promised.

"HEY!"

"Thank you, amazing friends." Tadashi chuckled.

"Anytime."

Hiro rolled his eyes as he got up. "Just for that, I'm not bringing you more rice candy. You're on your own!"

Tadashi gave a pout. "Otouto~"

"Nii-san~" Hiro smirked.

"Alright, come on, let's get a move on before that nurse decides to kick us out herself." Gogo said, grabbing Hiro by his hoodie, towing him behind her.

"ACK! Gogo!"

Tadashi laughed. "Right. Best to go before she decides to ask about everyone's love life."

Everyone gave a nod before filing out, Honey Lemon being the last one left as she got her things together.

Tadashi looked to her. "Hey, thanks for coming by. D-Don't be a stranger."

Honey Lemon smiled, giving a nod. "Anytime Tada. Seriously."

He smiled. "See ya soon. Have a good night."

She made her way over to him, hugging him again. "One last hug and then I promise I'm out of here."

Tadashi chuckled, hugging her back. "You're fine. Just don't give the nurses any ideas." He winked.

She giggled. "I won't. You got enough problems."

"Yeah. See ya."

"Bye." She gave a wave, walking out.

Soon, it was just Tadashi and Baymax. Baymax lead him on back to his room, giving his creator a somewhat curious look the whole time.

"Tadashi, your neurotransmitter levels were quite high during that last moment. You sure you wanted her to go?"

Tadashi groaned, flopping onto his bed. "Not you too!"

"I am just saying you seemed happier with her around and that is my goal is to be sure you are satisfied and happy."

"I was. I missed her… I missed all of them." Tadashi sighed, looking up at the ceiling. "I can't wait to get out of here and get back to school. I miss working on my projects. I also really can't stand another round of hospital food. That stuff has to be radioactive."

"I believe it is not, however…" Baymax waddled over to a bag in the room, bringing it over to Tadashi. "It would seem your aunt left you some food."

Tadashi gave Baymax a grateful look as he dug through it, grinning as he pulled out a box. "Yes! Rice candy!"

"It would seem Hiro's plans to get back at you have failed."

"Ah, that'll annoy him. Good." He chuckled, eating a few pieces. "He can't stand the stuff but I can't get enough of it."

"Just be sure to eat anything else your aunt brought you."

"I will, promise. I'm not like Hiro who would eat a full bag of candy and call it dinner." Tadashi shook his head. "Gosh, I worry about him. He really needs more sleep."

"Once you are home, I will assist in helping him get back into his normal sleep patterns. It is hard though when his mind starts going into what he calls "over drive". It is almost impossible to get him to sleep."

Tadashi chuckled, shaking his head. "That's Hiro for you. Sleep is not and probably never will be his friend. He still sneak downstairs to watch TV at night?"

"Sometimes. Generally, he is working on his own projects and tools."

"Got it. At least he's focusing… By the way, quick favor."

"Yes?"

"I need a newspaper or a way to access a news site. For some reason it's blocked on here and Aunt Cass probably had Hiro put the password so it means I can't crack it." Tadashi gave an annoyed look. "I'm nineteen not ten."

"I can access the internet via your phone without any blocks. I just need to know what you need me to find."

"Current news in San Fransokyo, recent events, that sort of thing. Exclude any and all Krei Tech news. I don't wanna hear about him… and if possible, information about Robert Callaghan." The name came out more as a growl as Tadashi's gaze darkened.  _I wanna know if they caught him for the fire or if he ever confessed or if he's using Hiro's tech as his own to make profit._

Baymax took Tadashi's phone, accessing the web.

"Information downloaded."

Baymax turned on his screen, showing a list of articles.

"It is a long list but it has all the information you are looking for. I have already discarded files that were incorrect."

"Thanks Baymax." Tadashi looked at the list, raising an eyebrow at one of the headlines. "Big Hero 6 defeats masked man?"

Baymax opened the file, showing the article to him.

"Tadashi, please do not be mad."

Tadashi held up a finger as he read, surprise coming to his eyes as a photograph was brought to his attention. "I-Is that…?" He leaned back. "... Did he put you up to that!?"

"Tadashi, I wanted to help Hiro in anyway I could. Even if it meant new protocols. There was a moment I wish that had not happened but I did all that he asked voluntarily. I wanted to help him get better."

The man's gaze softened. "Thanks for looking out for him… but geeze, no wonder they were all jumpy." Tadashi rubbed the back of his neck as he looked at the picture. "... I'm guessing that's Fred in that mutant lizard suit. That explains SO much."

"A lot has happened… and since you know, I will inform that the masked man was Robert Callaghan. He was arrested shortly after we defeated him and is now in prison."

"Good." Tadashi sighed. "And I probably should fess up too. I knew it was him that started the fire. He ignored me when I tried calling out to him and…" He closed his eyes, remembering. "The microbots snapped the beam pinning me. He tried to kill me."

Baymax turned off his screen, bringing Tadashi into his arms.

"I am sorry, Tadashi. I know you looked up to him."

Tadashi leaned into the embrace, sighing. "I just don't know why he would've left me there. Well… no, I can guess. I saw too much. If I had gotten out of there, I would've reported him to the cops. You know me. Live by the law."

"Yes. Callaghan had plans. We did not know until Hiro came across him by chance when one of his microbots was following the signal to where he was. From what Hiro says, he was caught up in revenge."

Tadashi frowned. "Revenge, eh…?" He leaned back, curious. "Baymax, I want to know everything. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to but… I'd like to know what was going on while I was asleep."

"I will do my best. In fact…"

He turned on his screen again.

"OW!"

Tadashi looked, seeing Hiro on the screen, having a curious look at he stared back at Tadashi, when in truth, he was looking at Baymax.

"So, the knucklehead hurt himself. He looks surprised."

Tadashi listened, watching as Hiro tried to deny ever getting hurt and knocking over his shelf. He cringed, watching Hiro's collection of figures topple down one by one on him. "I told him to stop collecting those things!"

Baymax had no comment and kept the video going. Tadashi watched and listened intently. Some parts he couldn't help but chuckle at things Hiro said… but as they went on, he couldn't help but cringe… and then be saddened. But the worst…

"BAYMAX! DESTROY HIM! NOW!"

Tadashi watched in horror as on the screen, Hiro was trying to command Baymax to kill Callaghan. He could see it, the fury in his eyes. "No, no, no…" He murmured.

He wished he could reach in and stop his brother, seeing him pull out Baymax's healthcare chip.

_NO!_

Baymax lowered his head, seeming to cringe as the moment played out. Soon as it was over, it cut to another scene with Hiro trying once again to remove the chip and finally losing it.

"TADASHI'S GONE!" He cried out, lowering his head.

Tadashi felt his heart break, a few tears escaping. "Oh, Hiro… I wish I could've done something." He watched on, seeing Hiro calm down as Baymax's testing footage was shown to him.

_Poor kid. This is all my fault. I shouldn't have gone in._

The last of the footage was the battle that had gone on with the team and Callaghan… and something Tadashi couldn't believe had happened.

"I can't lose you too!" Hiro cried out, looking at Baymax with a begging look.

"Hiro…" Baymax said to him. "I will always be with you."

 _Hiro…_  Tadashi ran a hand through his hair, feeling like his heart had just shattered.

"Are you satisfied with your care?"

Hiro hugged him one last time before pulling back.

"I'm satisfied with… with my care."

After that was said, the footage shut off for a moment, before coming back on to Hiro again, who an excited look in his eyes.

"Hello, I am Baymax your personal healthcare companion. Hello, Hiro."

Hiro said nothing as he smiled, bringing his arms around him.

The footage shut off again as Baymax turned off his screen.

"He rebuilt me after I sent him back." Baymax pointed his chip compartment. "I had placed my healthcare chip in the rocket hand that sent him back."

"You saved his life." Tadashi sighed shakily. "Saved it more than once… Thank you. Thank you for doing what I couldn't."

Baymax brought his creator into an embrace again.

"I look out for all patients but my first priority was your brother and now, you."

Tadashi smiled, hugging him. "Thank you, Baymax. You're the best." He wiped away a few tears that escaped. "I'm so proud."

"Is there anything else you would like to know?"

He shook his head. "That's all I need to know. I think I can make a guess that Hiro's story about being a random shooting was all bull. He was doing the hero thing, wasn't he?"

"We were rescuing someone that had been kidnapped. The perpetrator got loose from the authorities and shot him."

Tadashi cringed. "Got it. Thank goodness he's okay. That perp better hope I never find him or he's gonna get it."

"He is serving his time in jail now. There will be no need but I am sure you can look after your brother once you are well again."

"That's the goal. Can't let you take on the knucklehead by yourself. He's Hiro after all."

Baymax nodded.

"For now, you should rest. You have had a long day. If you require more information, I will find it."

"Thanks, Baymax." Tadashi yawned before laying back into bed. "Rest sounds great about now. 'Sides, tomorrow, I'm sure it'll be back to trying to get this stupid prosthetic under control."

Baymax unclipped the prosthetic, setting it aside.

"I will do all I can to help you walk again."

Tadashi smiled before starting to drift off. "I know you will."

_I know it._


	13. Chapter 13: Only the Start

Chapter 13: Only the Start

Hiro sighed as he looked through the building, trying to find the person he was looking for.  _Come on, the guy comes in almost every day for his cinnamon roll fix. How hard is it to find one doctor in this place!? It's not that big!_

He was at Three Rivers Medical Center, looking for Andy Yablonski, wanting to get a final approval before he brought the robotic leg to his brother. "For the love of- Anyone seen an Andy!?" He called, feeling a little irritated. He was still half asleep, having only slept a few hours.  _And my coffee has been officially cut off. I need some caffeine or I need something to go well or I'm gonna go nuts._

"Yablonski?"

Hiro looked to see another doctor come up to him with dark hair and dark eyes.

"Yeah, the transplant doc." He said, giving a sigh. "He said he'd meet with me today but for the life of me, I can't find him."  _Why does this guy sound familiar…?_

"I'm one of his co-workers. He got caught in an emergency surgery today but he should be out in a moment or so. Any way I can help?"

"Yeah, actually… you know anything about amputees?" Hiro asked. "And I'm Hiro by the way."

"David Lee and I know a thing or two. Why?"

Hiro looked around to make sure no one saw before unzipping his backpack, pulling the limb out. "My brother lost his leg in an accident. He has the usual prosthetic but it's been driving him crazy. I made this to respond to his brain's signals. Got a special transmitter and everything but I need an actual doc to approve it and frankly, I don't really trust the doctors at the hospital he's at now." Hiro explained, quickly handing it over.

David looked it over carefully. He noted all the details that were on it, seeing it even had toes.

"Have you tested it yet?"

Hiro cringed. "Not yet. He doesn't know. I didn't wanna give him false hope."

The doctor looked around before leading Hiro into his office, closing the door so they had some privacy.

"May I see the transmitter?"

He nodded, pulling it out. "Tried to make it as small as possible but powerful so it doesn't get in the way. It clips on by the ear, like a hearing aid." He explained.

David nodded.

"I'll help with the test then. Bend your right leg so you're only standing on your left."

"Right." Hiro did so, trying to keep balanced.  _Good thing I know how to keep balanced. Thank you martial arts and big brothers not giving up._

The doctor clipped the leg to Hiro's knee, before attaching the transmitter. He kept a hold of one of Hiro's hand.

"Alright, let's try it."

Hiro nodded before trying to walk, tripping a bit before he started to adjust. "Only downside of this kind of test, my real leg's trying to respond when the fake one needs to."

"Hrm… The only other way to get a good test would be to consult a patient who is also missing a leg but that wouldn't be wise since this is meant for someone else and not them."

"Just give me a few. He's my brother. It's my burden to carry." Hiro had a determined look in his eyes. "I've lost too much sleep and caffeine rights to give up."

"Alright." David kept helping him along till he was walking around the room with ease. "Okay, walking is good. I want to check reactions real quick." He had the boy sit down, on a table. It was a bit of an awkward sit but they made it work. David poked at the toes with a small needle, looking for a reaction.

They responded with ease, trying to move away. "S-Sorry!" Hiro apologized. "It doesn't hurt but I can feel the pressure."

"Don't say sorry, that's a good sign. You want this thing to be close to a real leg right?"

"Right."

"Then there's no need for apologies." David grabbed the iconic triangle hammer, giving the knee of the prosthetic a tap.

The leg kicked out quickly. Hiro gave a small cheer. "Yes! That's good right?"

"Yep. It's able to do walking after some time and the reaction times are perfect. I say this leg is good for patient use." He unclipped it, looking over it again. "And the socket is designed for comfort on the patient's actual flesh, so… I think you're good as gold Hiro."

The boy sighed in relief, feeling like he had just won a race. "Thank goodness. I wanna give it to him as quick as possible since he'll be out of the hospital soon… and I just want him to be able to do all he could before."

"You're giving him a good chance then. I'll get Dr. Yablonski's approval and then you're home free."

"Awesome! Thank you, David. Really appreciate the help." Hiro grinned. "I gotta remember to bring my brother by to meet you." …  _They seriously sound alike. It's a little scary._

"I'd like to meet him and see how he does, just got a lot to do right now-"

CRASH!

"EEK! SO SORRY!"

David was deadly quiet.

"Ryan… Excuse me."

He stormed out.

"WHAT YOU DO THIS TIME, KNUCKLEHEAD?!"

"I-I uh… Nothing!?"

Hiro felt deja-vu. He set the leg aside, following the doctor to see what was going on.

There was a tipped over stretcher and thankfully no patient but there were plenty of tools spread out over the floor and a broken IV bag.

David had a look of doom in his eyes.

"Ryan, you're on food errand duty for life!"

A young man with blond hair grimaced, lowering his head. "Yessir."

"Dude, if my brother saw this, you'd be lucky if food duty was all you got." Hiro couldn't help but comment. "And I thought I screwed up."

David shook his head.

"Get this cleaned up and apologize to the poor nurses here." He looked to them, identifying them as interns by their outfits. "You're fine ladies."

The nurses all giggled, smiling at him.

"Sorry, ladies." Ryan grimaced as he started to get to work.

…  _Is that how Nii-san would sound if he flirted?_

The nurses gave a nod before going into help him.

"We'll help him though, David. After all, we had our part in it too."

David smiled. "Alright. If you're willing to help that's fine."

"Yeah, we got it. It was an accident. Just glad a patient wasn't being transferred."

Ryan cringed. "Yeah, let's not repeat last year's incident. "

Hiro raised an eyebrow.  _Wonder what was last year's incident._

"And we agreed never to speak of it again. Now, I need to go find Cinnamon Muncher." He started walking off, giving a wink to one of the nurses. "See ya later, Amber."

The nurse giggled before focusing on her work.

Hiro shook his head. "Geeze. Anything I can do to help?"

"We got this Kid but thank you." Ryan answered. "I need to look where I'm going next time. Least I wasn't carrying an organ."

Amber cringed. "Bleck. David would've killed you."

"Killed you AND taken whatever organ it was to replace it." Another nurse added.

"He's… pretty fierce, ain't he?" Hiro asked, looking around the corner for the doctor.

"He's very serious about his work. You don't want to screw up around him. He was top of his class."

"Got it." Hiro sighed. "Kind of wish my brother had been taken here… Least, it seems you guys would've contacted us-Erm… Sorry, just a big mess over at Kiseki."

"Well, we're a transplant clinic and we get a lot patients every day so I'm guessing whenever they got your brother it might've been one of our busier nights. It can get kinda hectic."

Hiro nodded. "Yeah, probably. He was in the SFIT fire."

Ryan cringed. "Oh, that mess. Yeah we were in the middle of a code green that night."

Hiro grimaced. "I don't know all the medical jargon but I know what that means. Freaking mania."

"Yep, everyone had their hands tied. So, yeah."

"Hey! Hiro!"

David came back with another doctor beside. him. "Got Cinnamon Muncher for ya."

The doctor glared at him. "Would you quit it already with the nickname?"

"You earned it after the swiping you pulled last week, you freaking addict."

Hiro couldn't help but chuckle as he went over to the two. "Better than having Bonehead as your nickname. I'm one for life, according to my brother."

"Bummer. Anyways, sorry for not being with you on time. Emergency patient came in and I was the closest doctor so… yeah."

"It's fine. David helped me out. I just need you to sign off on it too."

"Can be done." He lead the way to his office. "Right this way."

oooooo

"Well… you almost got it." Honey Lemon sighed as she helped Tadashi stand again. "I think they waxed the floors today or something. I almost slipped on my platforms."

Tadashi cringed as he rubbed his side where he had collided with the wall. "Yeah, I wouldn't be shocked if someone watching the security footage is doing this on purpose. "Let's see how many times Coma Boy falls over." Hmph." He was a little crabby. It just seemed like he was never going to get it and it was becoming quite frustrating.

"Let's take a break." She lead him over to a set of chairs, sitting down with him. "You've been at it for a few hours now." She cringed a little, noticing a small bruise on his head. "Baymax, can you get some ice?"

"Of course." He nodded, heading to do so.

"I'm okay really-"

"Tada." Honey Lemon reached a hand up, touching the bruise gently.

Tadashi winced a little. "Alright, yeah. It's like I beat myself up."

She moved her hand down to his cheek.

"You're just trying to do something you haven't done in awhile and well… got the worst kind of hiccups to go with it."

"Yeah…" He sighed, glaring at the fake leg. "I hate this thing. When I get out of here, I am so finding something better. Even if I have to invent it myself, I will."

"I'm sure you could, just need the proper tools and right now is not that time, Tada."  _Oh, just wait. Hiro is gonna surprise you big time._

Tadashi nodded, smiling a little. "Thanks, Honey. You always know what to say."

"I do my best… Well, have been with all the times you came to my station to let off some steam." She held one of his hands, giving it a squeeze. "I admit, I kept looking around the corner, hoping to see you coming in because you needed someone to listen." She sighed. "Then I had to remind myself…"

He frowned, squeezing her hand gently. "Hey, I'm not gonna vanish again. I have too much to live for… I'm sorry I hurt you guys." He looked to the side, feeling a pang of guilt. "What I did was stupid."

Honey Lemon shook her head.

"You were just being you, Tada." She placed a hand on his cheek again. "You were always ready to help people no matter what it was. It's just who you are."

He leaned into her touch, sighing a bit. "Just me. The nerd in shining armor."

Honey Lemon giggled. "A sweet, selfless and amazing one if you ask me personally."

Tadashi grinned sheepishly, blushing. "A-Aw shucks, I'm nothing really. Not like you. Kind, funny, incredibly smart."  _Savior of the city.._ "And just… amazing."

Honey Lemon blushed. "T-Tada…"

"It's true." He brought his hand over hers. "You are my best friend. Always letting me blow off steam when my projects were driving me crazy or when I was worried about Hiro's botfighting habits. You always had my back."

"Just wanted to help you since you helped me a lot in my work. You saved me from blowing the lab up a few times."

Tadashi chuckled. "Yeah. Remember that time we got covered in that blue stuff? I thought everyone was gonna kill us for scaring them with that explosion… It was awesome!"

Honey Lemon laughed. "Oh yes! Oh what a day."

"It was great." He laughed. "Gogo was hopping mad since the startle made her throw one of her wheels into the wall. She was too short to reach!"

"I had to get it for her… Well, we got it for her." Honey Lemon blushed. "That's right, I got it but then toppled over."

"And I caught you." Tadashi blushed.

"Yeah. Hehe… I remember. "You have fallen." Ya think?" She giggled.

"Oh yeah." He chuckled. "Ah, good times. Maybe we will blow up the lab when I get back." He smirked. "Who knows?"

"Remember that whole blow up the moon thing that Gogo mentioned? I kind of own up to it."

"... We have to try that out on something!"

"Yes!"

Tadashi smirked, chuckling evilly. "Tadashi likes explosions."

"And so does Honey Lemon." She sighed happily. "Gosh I've missed hearing you laugh."

"It is really good to be able to laugh again. Better than just being out cold. Just so much I wanna do when I get out of here." Tadashi sighed in content. "I just want to start living."

"Gee, I hope one of those plans is taking the poor girl on a date!"

Honey Lemon went bright red as she looked towards the doorway to see Tristan leaning against it, a winning smirk on her lips.

"U-Um!"

Tadashi turned red as he put his face in his hands. "Nurse Dean please!"

"Hey, my job is saving lives-"

"Then save someone else's!"

"That includes before I was interrupted - That will come back kid - saving them from the friend zone!"

"Uh uh uh I… I…" Honey Lemon ducked her head down, trying to hide all the blushing.

"She is too much." Tadashi muttered, bright red as he leaned his head back. "Why did I get the romantic for a nurse!?"

"Hey!"

"Alright Nurse Dean, leave the poor lovers alone." Dr. Marks said as he grabbed her by her shirt collar, dragging her away.

"But Leeeeoooon! I was having fun!" She whined, going with him. "I wanted to see them kiss!"

 _K-KISS?!_ Honey Lemon went super red now, looking to the side.  _Yeah, in my dream- GAH! Come on, Tadashi wouldn't… Not me._

 _She saved the freaking city. She would not want a crippled nerd for a boyfriend._ Tadashi thought, glancing to the ground.  _She can have any guy in the world. Why pick the guy, who was to everyone, dead for a good six months?_

Honey Lemon looked back to him, holding his hands a little.

"Sorry… just a little flustered I guess."

"I-It's fine. Nurse Dean packs a punch in embarrassment. I swear, she and the other nurses have some sort of bet going on of who can embarrass me the most probably." Tadashi tried to laugh it off but he was still red in the face.

Honey Lemon giggled a little, trying to shake the embarrassment off, but was still blushing herself.

"Y-Yeah."

"A-Anyway…"

"W-Want to try walking again?"

Tadashi cringed a bit but nodded. He really didn't but he knew he had to if he wanted to be walking out of this place. "Yeah. One more round before I throw this thing out the window."

Honey Lemon got up, helping him stand. He slipped a little but she helped him balance.

"Got ya."

"Thanks, Honey." He gave her a grateful look as they went along.  _Ugh… I just hate how this thing feels. I don't feel ANYTHING except the part of my leg I still have. I can't tell how much weight I have to put down._

"You're doing good." She gave his hand a squeeze.

Tadashi smiled, squeezing back. "Thanks."

She nodded, continuing on with him. It was smooth travels… until they were coming up on the part of the room that just seemed to be the dead zone. Though unlike the last few times, both came crashing down.

"WAH!"

"ACK!"

Honey Lemon sat up, rubbing her head. "Ow… Okay, taking off my platforms before getting back up."

Tadashi sat up, rubbing his shoulder. "I officially am gonna find out whoever waxes this floor and I'm gonna sick Hiro on him. I can't use my good kicking leg but HE can!"

Honey Lemon clipped off her shoes before getting up and helping Tadashi up as well. It was still a bit slippery with her socks on only but she was able to keep a better balance.

"... Ever go sock skating on a well polished floor?" She asked.

"Not since I was really little." He smirked. "Shall we?"

Honey Lemon nodded. "Come on."

He nodded before they went off, skidding along the floor. "Haha! This is awesome!"

Honey Lemon laughed. "Yes! Just a few pushes and ya glide!"

Tadashi grinned. "It's perfect."

Honey Lemon smiled back, still keeping a good grip on his hands to keep him balanced.

He held on tight as they went but he was relaxed. It was nice to have some fun without having to worry if he was going to just topple over.

Soon after, the two made their way back to the chairs when they were out of breath, resting against each other.

"That… felt good." Honey Lemon panted.

"Really good." Tadashi agreed, catching his breath. He brought an arm around her. "Thanks Honey Lemon. That was the most I've laughed all day."

Honey Lemon smiled, leaning against him. "Glad I could help."

He smiled. "I've had a lot of fun. Maybe they should hire you and fire the physical therapist." He joked.

Honey Lemon giggled. "Aw shucks. I just wanted to see you happy again since you've been so frustrated."

"I'd say you've succeeded." He chuckled. "I could say I am satisfied with my care."

She sighed happily, resting her head under his. "Just don't expect me to go back into a case."

"Long as you promise not to talk like a crazy person while trying to pet me."

"Low battery Baymax?"

"Yep. Chased Hiro for awhile and I couldn't run since I didn't have the prosthetic so there was lots of head petting. Really funny but weird too. I didn't program that."

"The rest of us have seen it from time to time. I do question why it happens. He sounds like a drunk when he does."

Tadashi shrugged. "I think it's because his processor is firing off commands and the rest of him just can't keep up. When the battery is going critical low I'm guessing the firing off is at its worst and then we have drunk Baymax."

"Got ya. Well, only time I'm anything like that is if I haven't gotten enough sleep."

Tadashi chuckled, resting his head on top of hers. "Amen to that. Lack of sleep is our own low battery mode."

Honey Lemon blushed a little, but giggled. "Yeah."

"Yep." He sighed in content. "I'm just in a really good mood right now."

"Good. That's all I want for you right now, Tada."

"You've given me that, Honey. Thank you." He smiled, nuzzling her a little.

Honey Lemon nuzzled back. "Anytime."

He smiled, keeping her close.

CLICK!

"Boy, aren't you two cozy?" Came a familiar voice.

Tadashi went a little red, looking to see his brother standing with his phone out, a smirk on his face. "Hiro!"

"What?"

Honey Lemon blushed as she pulled back from Tadashi a little. She knew why he was here.

"Hey, Hiro. Is… Is everything ready?"

Hiro nodded, running over. "Yep! Got it all checked out and it's good to go."  _I can't wait to see the look on his face!_  "Had to take a cab all the way from Three Rivers but worth it."

"What were you doing there-" Tadashi stopped short as he remembered. "Something to do with Andy?"

Hiro gave an excited look. "Yep and another doctor but beside that, yeah! And while I could tell you right away, I want you to guess!"

"Okay let's see… Either something for Baymax… or… Hm…" He glanced down at this leg. …  _Would he?_

"It's not for Baymax and before ya worry, I'm fine. Gah, I can't take it! Close your eyes!"

Honey Lemon covered Tadashi's eyes. "Here's so he doesn't cheat!"

"Hey!"

Hiro grinned as he took out the new leg, unclipping the one he had currently. "Just keep still." He said, hooking it up and slipping the transmitter on him. "Alright, you can look!"

Honey Lemon pulled her hands away as Tadashi looked, his eyes widening at the new prosthetic.

"H-Hiro… you…"

Hiro smiled, nodding quickly. "I… I wanted to help you get better. That dinosaur that they fitted you with just wasn't gonna cut it. I started coming up with ideas when you woke up. I just had to get a doc to check it over and make sure it was gonna work."

Tadashi stared at it in amazement. He could actually feel it. He thought about for a moment, seeing the toes twitch, jumping a little at the reaction.

"Oh my gosh."

"Yeah, it's that good. That thing over your ear is the neurocranial transmitter, like the one I made for the microbots but finer tuned. You don't have to have total focus on what you're doing. It'll pick up the impulses naturally."

Honey Lemon got up, offering him a hand.

"Come on, let's try it."

Tadashi took her hand, standing. He was a little wobbly at first but then balanced out as Honey Lemon lead him along.

Hiro beamed as he watched. "How's it feel, Nii-san?"

"It feels amazing." He looked to Honey Lemon. "Can I try standing on my own?"

"Of course." Honey Lemon pulled back but kept close, just in case.

Tadashi started to wobble again but regained his balance, starting to walk on his own with Honey Lemon following beside him. To his amazement, even with a few slips, he made it all the way back to his brother.

Hiro smiled, a little misty eyed. He was just so relieved it was working like he had intended. That it was helping his brother. "Do you like it…?"

Tadashi pulled him into his arms.

"It's perfect Otouto. Thank you."

Hiro hugged him, sighing happily. "You're welcome, Nii-san. I'm so glad. You'll get to do everything again."

"Yeah and I just can't wait."

"Well, they gotta let you out when they see this, right?"

"Sure hope so. This was their last concern since everything else has healed up."

Hiro smirked. "Then you can walk right out of here and give 'em what for."

"Darn right!"

Honey Lemon giggled. "You're all better. I'm so glad."

Tadashi smiled, holding an arm out. "C'mere."

Honey Lemon hurried over, bringing her arms around both of them, giggling.

Tadashi hugged her and Hiro sighing happily. "This… is amazing."

Hiro nodded. "Agreed."

_And it's only the start._


	14. Chapter 14: Home

Chapter 14: Home

"Aww… We can't keep him?"

Hiro glared at Tristan, even though she was kidding as he hugged his brother's arm. "He's comin' home. Get your own brother to drive crazy!"

Tadashi was finally getting released and they were packing up the room when Tristan had made the comment. Hiro was not amused. At all. "You guys kept him for six months!"

"And frankly, I'm tired of hospital food." Tadashi dead panned.

Tristan grinned sheepishly. "I'm not the one who cooks it." Her look softened. "Really happy for you Kid. Enjoy yourself. Don't wind up back here anytime soon."

Hiro scoffed. "Not if we can help it. There's been talk of bubble wrap."

Tadashi shook his head. "I'll try to stay out of trouble. Been away from home long enough." He ruffled his brother's hair. "Got a brother I want to be with again."

Hiro chuckled, smiling. "And I got a brother I missed hanging out with."

Tadashi got the last of his things, slinging a bag over his shoulder.

"That's everything."

"One last thing." Tristan placed a box on the nightstand. "Your aunt dropped these off."

Tadashi raised an eyebrow before opening it, finding a pair of green converse shoes that looked like the old ones he used to have inside it.

Hiro glanced inside. "Heh. Well, she was nagging you about how old the ones you had before were."

"True that and I needed a new pair anyway."

He took them out slipping, them on, happy to see the prosthetic slipped in perfectly as well.

"Awesome."

"Like I said, I worked my butt off on that." Hiro grinned, grabbing a few bags. "Now, we just gotta see how it fairs on the moped."

"I'll worry about that later. I'm thankful Wasabi is picking us up."

"Be safe. Okay?"

Tadashi gave a salute to the nurse before walking off with his brother. Soon as they were outside, Tadashi felt relief come over him, smelling the fresh air.

"That feels nice."

"Heck yeah." Hiro agreed as he and Wasabi helped load up Tadashi's things into the trunk. "Man, we packed that room full."

"Well, had to avoid going crazy somehow." Tadashi chuckled as he got in the car.

"Yeah and I left some of my stuff too." Hiro grinned before he got in as well. "... So, is there a chance of us going the speed limit or heaven forbid over?"

Wasabi gave a mortified look. "We're not in a car chase Hiro. Besides, we're in no rush. I just know the others are waiting at the cafe."

"Woman up." Hiro smirked, quoting Gogo, remembering how she had taken control of the car.  _She'd so never let him hear the end of it._

Wasabi rolled his eyes before starting the car, driving off. Soon enough, they were at the Lucky Cat Cafe.

"Alright, home sweet home, Tadashi." Wasabi said as they got out.

"Got that right." Tadashi chuckled as he headed inside.

Before he knew it, everyone yelled "WELCOME HOME!" as Aunt Cass and Gogo fired off new years poppers.

Tadashi jumped a little before laughing.

"Guys!"

They ran up to him, taking turns, welcoming him back. Aunt Cass taking the longest as she hugged her nephew close.

"We just are so happy you're finally home… and it was Honey's idea."

Honey Lemon giggled a little, hiding a blush. "We missed you a lot."

Tadashi smiled, pulling her into his arms. "Thanks. This is awesome."

Honey Lemon hugged him back, nuzzling a little. "You're welcome, Tada."

Tadashi nuzzled, sighing happily. "Finally home."

"We'll get all the stuff upstairs. You just stay down here." Wasabi said as he and Hiro went up the stairs with all the luggage.

"Alright."

"Man, his bags are heavy." Hiro mumbled as he pulled a few of the bags along. "What'd he do, pack up everything else that wasn't nailed down?"

He sighed in relief, looking around before going over to his brother's side of the room, moving the divider aside.

_Won't need to keep this closed anymore. He's finally home._

"Mew?"

Hiro looked down at Mochi, eying the cat with a suspicious look. "I'm not giving you any treats. Go find your favorite."

Mochi seemed confused before heading downstairs, eyes widening when he noticed Tadashi.

"MEW!"

He rushed over, rubbing up against his leg.

"Mew! Mew! Mew!"

Tadashi laughed, picking the calico up. "Mochi!" He smiled, hugging him. "There's my favorite cat!"

Mochi purred, cuddling up to him.

"Mew."

Tadashi held him close, nuzzling him. "My hairy baby."

_So that's where Baymax gets it from._

"Alright everyone, lunch is on me!" Cass cheered.

"Aww yeah!"

"Free food!"

Tadashi grinned. "Finally some real food!"

"Mew!"

Soon enough, things quieted after lunch, Tadashi taking some time to look around the house, just glad to be home. To see if anything had changed.

_They really haven't changed much. Least there's that. Wonder if my room is all boxed up…_

He decided to have a look, surprised to see his place exactly the way he remembered it. Book shelf still had everything and his notebooks were still on his desk.

"Surprised?"

Tadashi looked behind him to see Hiro looking in.

"I-I mean we… It… It didn't feel right to pack it all away. I just didn't think it'd be right."

Tadashi smiled, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm glad you kept it like this. Honest."

Hiro smiled, hugging him. "Good." He nuzzled a little. "Sorry just… it still feels like a dream sometimes, you know?"

Tadashi hugged him, nuzzling back.

"I know what you mean."

Hiro nodded, keeping close. "Love you, Nii-san."

"Love you too, Otouto. So much."

"Really glad you're home."

"And I'm glad to be home. Glad to have my life back."

"Yup… Oh yeah. One more thing." Hiro had a devious look on his face as he pulled back.

"Hm?"

Hiro grinned and darted over to his desk, retrieving a letter before handing it to Tadashi. "SFIT would like to welcome you back, Mr. Hamada and the new robotics teacher Mr. Wylie wants your butt in class next week."

Tadashi's eyes went wide before a grin crossed his face, taking the letter in his hands.

"He can count on me then."

"Good." Hiro grinned. "Welcome back, Bro."

"Glad to be back."

oooooo

 _I don't need sleep. Sleep is for the weak._ Hiro's head bobbed as he worked in the garage, trying to render the image on the screen. His hand was shaking as he tried to hold his tablet straight.  _C'mon, just ten more minutes and I can call this finished. I can print it tomorrow._

"Hiro." Tadashi placed a hand on his brother's shoulder. "It's almost midnight. You need to rest."

"Sleep is for the weak, Nii-san. For the weak, dangit." He looked up at him but it was evident he was close to falling asleep right there at the computer. "Just need to render this and-"

Tadashi smirked, stroking his hair, bringing his brother into his arms.

Hiro yawned, laying his head on his sibling's shoulder. "That's just evil. That old trick…" He mumbled, relaxing.

"Works like a charm." Tadashi chuckled, humming softly as he put the computer to sleep mode, taking Hiro back up to their room.

Hiro smiled, closing his eyes. "Yeah, it sure does… Evil Nii-san." He mumbled.

"And my little brother the devil.." Tadashi slipped his shoes off before setting his brother down into his bed, tucking him in.

Hiro mumbled a bit about taking over the world, one pastry at a time before he was out like a light, curling up.

"Night, Otouto. Sweet dreams."

It was a few hours later until Hiro started to whimper in his sleep.

"No… Come back."

"Mm…?"

Tadashi sat up, looking over to Hiro, seeing Baymax was already at his side. He hurried over.

"What's up, Baymax?"

"Hiro is experiencing a night terror. His neurotransmitter levels are dropping." The nursebot responded as he tried to coax Hiro to wake up. The teen thrashed in his sleep, crying out.

"TADASHI!"

Tadashi sat down beside him, bringing him into his arms.

"Hiro! Wake up!"

Hiro gasped as his eyes snapped open, looking at Tadashi, stunned as he tried to catch his breath. "B-Brother…?"

"Shh…" He stroked his hair. "I'm here. Right here."

Hiro whimpered, hugging him tightly, burying his face in his shirt. "You… You weren't… The house, it was…" He broke off, sobbing a little.

"Shhh… It's over now Hiro. It's over." Tadashi leaned back, laying down with his brother. "Nii-san's here."

Hiro relaxed a little, keeping close to Tadashi. "Sorry… I didn't mean to wake you up." He frowned, wiping away a few stray tears. "I… It happens a lot at home."

"It's okay. I'm your big brother. I'm supposed to look after you." He stroked his back. "Have been since we were young, remember?"

"Yeah." Hiro smiled, relaxing, nuzzling a little. "I remember."

"Good. How about I stay right here for the night? That sound okay?"

The teen nodded, curling up. "I'd really like that Nii-san."

"Then I'll stay, Otouto."

Tadashi pulled the blankets over both of them, getting comfortable with his brother.

Hiro kept close, laying his head over Tadashi's heart. "Night… Thanks."

"Anytime. Sweet dreams."

Hiro drifted off, this time, his sleep dreamless.  _He always had my back._

Tadashi started to drift himself, humming a bit before joining his brother

oooooo

"Nii-san…? C'mon, wake up. Your arm is crushing me!"

Morning had come and as neither had set an alarm, Hiro had slept longer than he liked. He looked at his sleeping brother, sighing as he tried to get him to wake up. "C'mon! If you don't get up, I'm gonna eat all your rice candy!"

Tadashi stirred, opening one eye, moving his arm.

"You can't stand the stuff, you wouldn't be able to eat one."

"If it meant getting you awake, I would." Hiro sat up, stretching. "And your arm wasn't really crushing me but you had a death grip."

"Sorry." Tadashi got up as well, stretching a little.

"It's cool." Hiro yawned rubbing an eye. "I just wanted to get a jump on what I was doing last night. I just need some coffee and-"

"No coffee or no gummy bears. Capiche?"

Hiro gave his brother a stunned look. "You wouldn't."

"I would."

"Alright, no coffee but this caffeine ban will die down."

"Least till you're not relying on it constantly."

"Alright, deal. No caffeine until I no longer get caffeine withdrawal."  _Note to self, stock up on sugar instead._

"Good boy." Tadashi headed over to his side of the room, getting on his casual clothes. "Gonna be at the lab for a bit."

"Spending time with your girlfriend?" Hiro asked as he went to his closet, getting his own out.

Tadashi rolled his eyes. "I'm helping Honey with her project. Her explosives keep blowing up in her hand."

Hiro gave him a look. "Like I asked. You're spending time with your girlfriend." He deadpanned.

Tadashi blushed. "Hiro…"

Hiro grinned before running downstairs. "I REGRET NOTHING!"

Tadashi shook his head before heading out.

_Still immature as ever._

Hiro watched him go before smirking, using his handheld scanner as his brother went.  _Mehehe… Oh, Brother, you really need to watch your code. Got everything I need right here._

oooooo

BOOM!

"ALRIGHT, ONE OF YOU BETTER FIGURE IT OUT BEFORE WE HAVE AN ICE RINK IN HERE!" Gogo yelled over to Honey Lemon and Tadashi, ducking for cover from an explosive that had gotten away from them. "OR BEFORE WE ALL DIE!"

"SORRY!" Honey Lemon quickly got her bombs together, cleaning up the mess it had made. She sighed. "That's the 5th one too…"

"Hey, sometimes it takes time." Tadashi tried to reassure her as he helped her clean up. "Baymax took me 84 times before he finally worked like I wanted."

"True." Honey Lemon finished cleaning up, getting everything in order. "Okay, let's see…"

"Hm… Maybe too much cobalt? You only used a little bit when you did that embrittlement thing." Tadashi mused. "You used a lot more this time. Maybe lower it and see how it reacts?"

"Good idea." Honey Lemon did as told, putting the formula together. "Okay…" She picked it up gingerly, bracing herself for a reaction… but sighed in relief when none came. "Phew…"

Tadashi sighed in relief, squeezing her shoulder. "Perfect. No explosion."

Honey Lemon nodded. "Yeah. Thanks, Tada."

"Anytime… By the way, can I ask you a question?"

"Sure thing."

He leaned against one of the counters as he thought it over. "Hiro had a rough night last night. Kid worked himself practically into the ground and then he had a night terror on top of that. I was just wondering, any idea what he's got cooking up? I didn't look at his computer since I wanna respect his privacy but… I'm curious since last time he did well…" He looked to his prosthetic. "He made this."

Honey Lemon looked to Gogo, who gave a keep quiet look.

"Not really sure to be honest." Honey Lemon answered, shrugging, putting her bombs away for later use. "Maybe it's upgrades for the team- You know about that right?"

 _I wonder how much they think I know._ "Yeah, I know a few things. New hero team hit our town while I was out."  _And I know it's you guys._

Honey Lemon nodded.

"Yeah, so it might have something to do with that but ya never know with Hiro."

"Ain't that true." Tadashi shook his head. "Just worry about him sometimes… Alright, most of the time but he's my little brother- Fred, I'd walk slowly away from Wasabi's station if you don't wanna die yet."

"How did you even see me swipe that!?"

"Eyes that have seen the sneak look a thousand times." He smirked. "But yeah."

Honey Lemon nodded. "Got ya."

"Yep. On the upside, least I know he'll be alright and I have a nurse bot I can sick on the kid if I have to." Tadashi smirked a little. "Sorry just… you know how it is."

"We do." Honey Lemon giggled. "We've all been looking after him so we know what it's like to worry about him."

"And I really appreciate it." Tadashi chuckled. "It's really good to be back at the lab."

"We're glad to have you back." Honey Lemon walked over to him, giving his shoulder a squeeze. "Wasn't the same without you."

Tadashi brought an arm around her shoulders. "I can tell." He smiled. "Thanks, Honey."

Honey Lemon gave a nod.

Fred snuck over to Gogo.

"So… wanna try our luck with these two?" He whispered.

Gogo smirked. "I thought you'd never ask."

"You take Honey, I'll take Tadashi."

Fred went back to his chair, grabbing his sign.

_This is gonna be good._

Gogo crept up on the two while they talked. She smirked.  _Time to woman up, Hamada._

Fred got in position. Soon as the two moved to where Gogo and Fred could interact, they sprang for it.

"INCOMING SIGN!"

"EEK!"

"WOMAN UP!"

"OOF!"

Honey Lemon slipped forward as Tadashi started to fall. He grabbed onto her as they collided, lips locking.

_OH I AM GONNA KILL THOSE TWO!_

_Oh my gosh…_

"BYE!" Fred shouted as he dove into his man cave for cover, Gogo going back to her station.

Tadashi pulled back, bright red as he stammered. trying to come up with an apology or an explanation. Nothing that made sense came out as he fell quiet, glancing away. Honey Lemon was quiet too as she glanced to the side, red as Tadashi before looking back to him.

"Tada… I…. Um…"

"I-I uh… Honey…." Tadashi rubbed the back of his neck. "I… Oh screw it." He pulled her into his arms. "I should say it before I have more regrets. Honey Lemon…" He looked her in the eyes. "I… I really like you. Really… Really like you."

Honey Lemon looked at him shocked, eyes wide, speechless. She didn't respond for a moment, still she leaned forward, kissing his cheek.

"Tada… I admit… I didn't think I'd get to tell you that… I really like you too."

Tadashi's eyes widened before he kissed her cheek. "Y-You do...?"

She nodded, cupping his cheek in her hand.

"You're the best friend anyone could ask for. I didn't see anything beyond that till I really got to know you. You were always there to help me whenever I needed it. I got to talk to you everyday be it venting or just chatting but I loved having your company. You're smart, you're kind, selfless and I could never get over that smile of yours."

Tadashi blushed, leaning into her hand, bringing his own over it. "And you… you always let me talk it out if something was frustrating me, helped me think things through when Baymax was having me go through the five stages of project grief, when I was worried about Hiro or just wanting to talk, always fun to see what you were working on and help if I could and you helped me out so much when I was trying to walk again. You're amazing… and… you're really beautiful too."

"Tadashi…" Honey Lemon blushed.

Tadashi smiled softly, kissing her cheek once more. "I tell only the truth."

Honey Lemon giggled, hugging him, resting her head on his shoulder.

_So glad I decided to wear my flats today._

Tadashi brought his arms around her, resting his head against hers. He stroked her hair a little sighing happily.

_So glad I decided to fess up._

Gogo quickly snapped a photo before hiding.

_No WAY is he gonna be denying this._

She quickly texted the image to Hiro.

_It's official. - GG_

Hiro looked and smirked, texting back.

_He's never living this down. - HH_

_Oh, Fred and I will be sure of it. - GG_

_Good. Speaking of, tell Nerd King he better head straight home when he's done. Project BH7 is done - HH_

_Sure thing. - GG_

Gogo headed over to the two.

"Hey, Nerd King, Nerd Prince wants you home. He's got something for ya when you're ready."

Tadashi blinked. "Ho boy. This should be good."  _It cannot end well if Hiro's involved. Might be a prank or he found the coffee and decided to say screw it- You know what. He's not bot fighting anymore. I will give him a chance._

Honey Lemon kissed his cheek.

"Just go. I'm sure Hiro has something to show ya that'll knock your socks off."

"Alright." Tadashi kissed hers. "I'll call you later?"

Honey Lemon nodded. "I'll be waiting."

Tadashi smiled. giving her a quick hug before heading off.

oooooo

Hiro paced, waiting impatiently. He was excited about this and wanted to see his brother's reaction.

 _Where are you? I'm gonna give your gross candy to the cat if you don't show up soon. - HH_  He texted.

"Right here."

Tadashi came in, getting off his moped.

"Traffic was terrible."

"Got it. Alright, so… something you probably should know before I show you this." Hiro cleared his throat, giving Tadashi a serious look. "About that new hero team in town-"

"It's you guys, right?"

Hiro's eyes went wide. "How-?"

Tadashi looked over to Baymax. "I asked him about things and he told me the whole story. I just kept the fact I knew about it low key."

Hiro sighed, looking to the nursebot. "Well, you just saved me an awkward explanation."

"He wanted to know."

"All good. Well, since you know about that, we recently decided that we needed to draft another member into the team." He smirked before pulling out pieces of armor, laying them out on the work table. "More specifically, a certain friend slash brother who we just got back."

Tadashi came closer, looking it over, seeing it was armor similar to Hiro's but in shades of gold and white with some tints of black. "Whoa… Hiro…"

Hiro grinned. "Printed it up this morning. There's rocket boots too but wanted to wait on printing those up. It'll take me five minutes tops but yeah, my side project."

"Hiro… this… is amazing." He looked to him. "You really want me to be part of the team?"

"Of course!" Hiro laughed. "You're my brother, heck yeah I want you on the team and so does everyone else!"

Tadashi grinned, bowing his head.

"I'd be honored."

Hiro grinned, giving a bow of his own.

"Welcome to Big Hero 7 then, Tadashi."

**The End**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for reading, art credit for the entire story goes to my awesome co-writer and best friend Aileen-Rose, who helps run the Legion of Hiro's blog. Come say hi sometime if you want to and stick around for more: https://legionofhiros.tumblr.com/


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